


A Love Like Flames Would Melt You

by Miss_Nihilist



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: (It's not especially clear), And Lio is NOT having it, Burnish Body Horror, Canon Rewrite, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Developing Relationship, Everyone wants to protect Lio, Fate & Destiny, Hurt/Comfort, Interrogation, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), No sex but there certainly is a lot of talking and thinking about it, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Galo Thymos, Slow Burn is For COWARDS, Soulmates (sort of), Team as Family, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Time Travel Fix-It, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:40:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 62,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28619700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nihilist/pseuds/Miss_Nihilist
Summary: The plan that Lio has spent a month perfecting goes suddenly and inexplicably awry, thanks to the well-intentioned meddling of a man that Lio has never met.And the best part? He claims to be from a week in the future, and he says that Lio is going to die.
Relationships: Burning Rescue Members & Galo Thymos, Lio Fotia & Gueira & Meis, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 117
Kudos: 137





	1. So What Fates Do We Share?

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: I love my taste in music, so every chapter's gonna be named with lyrics and I'm going to talk about it in the notes. Not apologizing, my playlist is incredible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not totally sold on the title, but it comes from the song “Kori Ni Tojikomete” by Superfly, written for the movie. ""Allegedly,"" it’s supposed to be about Galo’s unrequited love for Lio. 
> 
> The chapter titles comes from "Bob Dylan" by Fall Out Boy. Absolutely incredible song, listen to it immediately. It has no relevance to this chapter other than that one line.
> 
> Watch me speed run both the movie’s (already rushed) plot as well as a developing romantic relationship! (Galo fell in love in the span of a week and that's just facts.)

"We'll start the fire on the fiftieth floor," Lio said for what must've been the tenth time that day alone. But it was important that this message was drilled into Gueira and Meis' heads until they could barely close their eyes without seeing Lio's schematics tattooed on the backs of their eyes. "That ought to split Burning Rescue's attention. We want them to think that this is an ordinary arsonist attack. It's going to be difficult to pretend to go down to only one fighter, but you two have been practicing your falls, haven't you?"

To their credit, neither Gueira nor Meis looked bored. They were nodding along with Lio, paying rapt attention as his gloved finger traced its way down the blueprints of Foresight Pharmaceuticals. "Of course," Meis confirmed. "We've perfected making our armor weaker while outwardly not looking any different. It should shatter easily against ice."

"Good." Lio let out an unsteady sigh. "We need this to be believable. If they suspect foul play, we'll be frozen solid. And there won't be an advantageous time to break out of that if we can't tell what's going on. We'd have to call the mission off entirely, try again somewhere else…" He trailed off, biting his lip. The backup plans probably weren't necessary, but for once, Lio wasn't planning for the "just in case" contingencies.

This wasn't like burning down a few buildings. They were going to let themselves be captured and chained and dragged into the heart of Foresight's inhuman Burnish prison. There was no "just in case" — if Lio couldn't break out of their patented freeze cuffs, then that was it. There was no setup or break out, they were just captured. And probably slated to be killed in some horrific test that they'd been saving for more powerful Burnish.

A hand on his shoulder startled Lio from his thoughts. He looked over at Gueira, who had a hesitant smile on his face. "Worried about the mission, Boss?" He asked.

Denying it seemed pointless. Lio gave a curt nod instead, looking back at his plans. "No reason to be, really," he muttered, more to convince himself than Gueira. "We've spent a month scouting the city and watching to learn Burning Rescue's operating procedures. They should easily have us apprehended before Freeze Force is on the scene, which gives us time to drag it out so it looks realistic on cameras. Everything is planned down to the minute." That didn't lessen the anxiety.

If just _one thing_ went wrong, and Lio fucked this up, they were over. Tossed in prison with the others or, worse, forced to abandon them in the name of saving themselves.

On his other side, Lio felt Meis hovering. "It's like you always say, Boss," Meis said casually, leaning against the table, "we're going to help the rest of the Burnish. If this plan fails, we'll just try again with another one."

"And that's a big _if_ ," Gueira joked. "Your plans are always water-tight, Boss! This'll work, I can feel it. Besides." He gave Lio's shoulder a squeeze. "If something goes wrong, we'll get you out of there safe, no problem."

Lio shot him an exasperated look. He'd told Gueira and Meis both, several times, to prioritize themselves if a mission went wrong. They vehemently refused to listen. There was no point in dredging up the same old argument now, though. They had an hour to be in downtown Promepolis in order to stay on schedule. And since it was a forty-minute drive with their bikes and longer on foot to remain undetected, they'd better get moving.

Saying nothing, Lio rolled up all his plans and burnt them in his palm, magenta and cyan flames licking up the paper until it was all ash within seconds. A month of work and preparation, but Lio couldn't leave behind evidence that their capture had been staged. If they failed, they wouldn't need plans that hadn't worked, anyway. He was leaving two of his more trusted generals in charge of the settlement while they were gone, but no one knew anything of what was being planned other than Gueira, Meis, and Lio himself. It was better that way. If something happened while he was gone, no one could know any valuable information.

"We'd better get going," Lio said resolutely. He left the room with Gueira and Meis hot on his heels.

They'd tried to comfort him, but Lio could tell that they weren't doing much better. Both of them were unusually quiet as they followed the familiar halls and turns of the abandoned construction site that they'd made into a home.

Once in the common room, Lio picked out who he was looking for immediately. "Hiroshi," he said, and the man in question immediately stopped playing cards with a group of four others and straightened. "Find Ramona. You and she will have the authority while we're away. I want you to have someone on lookout duty immediately, rotating every hour. If we're not back by this time in three days, act as if we won't be returning at all."

There was a salute from Hiroshi as he scampered off, and a chorus of _"yes, sir!"_ s from everyone else. Lio nodded once and turned on his heel, exiting the room with his back straight and his head tall.

These people were counting on him. He refused to disappoint them.

Once outside, Gueira sighed and cracked his knuckles. "At least we've got a forty-minute drive through the Waste to clear our heads," he drawled. "Doesn't get much more uneventful than that."

That much was true, at least. Lio chose not to answer, not trusting himself to speak. He closed his eyes, summoning Detroit at his side. The rush of heat in the air told him that Meis and Gueira were following suit. Lio took the time to put detail into Detroit, imagining each cylinder, every nut and bolt, carving out the grips on the handles to perfectly cup the curves of his fingers. Seeing his motorcycle when he opened his eyes was immediately relaxing. Sure, Lio could fly with his flames, but that was just _begging_ to attract attention. More importantly, having wheels allowed him to do some tearing up if he wanted to. Lio found it cathartic.

Swinging one leg over his bike and getting situated, Lio pushed it forward with a nudge of his mind. With Gueira and Meis right behind them, the four of them tore across the scorched earth of the Waste. The settlement and the volcano they'd settled next to were soon far behind them. Boring as the ride was, Lio actually did find that being able to focus on nothing was good for calming his racing flame.

Everything would be fine. He'd been pulling fast ones on Kray Foresight and Freeze Force for months now, learning how they moved. Lio was _ready_ for this mission, dammit.

When Promepolis was on the horizon, some forty or so minutes later, Lio gestured off to his right side. Meis split away from him and Gueira, riding westerly. He'd circle into the city separately and then they'd all meet up for their rendezvous and the fire they were planning to start. Lio gave him a few minutes, then gestured for Gueira to go next. He pulled up next to Lio for a brief moment to snap off a semi-sarcastic salute, then he was peeling away and speeding up to tear off through what was rapidly fading from desert to grass.

Lio looked at the fertile land with a grimace. He wondered if the Waste was unlivable because of what happened during the Great World Blaze, or because the Foresight Foundation kept it that way so the Burnish had nowhere to go.

When he got close enough to drift onto a road leading into the city, Lio took a deep breath and sat up straighter. He didn't like changing Detroit, but a motorcycle was bad enough for staying lowkey. He needed to look just like any ordinary citizen. So he sucked in all of the modifications and accessories, forcing Detroit to slow down to a more reasonable speed. No one knew what he, nor his generals looked like. They only ever wore their armor when they were starting fires. That anonymity was a blessing — as Lio zipped through Promepolis' shining streets, no one gave him so much as a second glance.

He almost felt bad for all of these citizens. So many of them would never know the truth about the Burnish, thanks to the propaganda from the Foresight Foundation. Lio wondered if his push for equal rights would be quite so difficult if anyone in the city was allowed to give a damn about the Burnish without being silenced.

Thoughts of the city's citizens and their opinions quickly faded from thought. It wasn't an extraordinary building by any stretch of the imagination, but Lio knew when he saw it: Foresight Pharmaceuticals. His eyes narrowed. Just another skyscraper jutting out of Promepolis' shining horizon. Lio had to admit, a part of him took satisfaction in taking it down. All he had to do was wait for Meis to pull the fire alarm, then let Burning Rescue take care of anyone who didn't leave the building quickly enough. This was going to be _easy_.

Lio maneuvered neatly into the alley next to the building, where the back entrance and fire escape exit was. Getting inside would be easy enough: everyone would be in such a hurry to get out in a minute that they wouldn't even notice someone who wasn't supposed to be there. He stopped Detroit, making sure to take out the security camera above the door before letting it dissolve into a flurry of quickly fading fire.

He straightened, adjusting his gloves. Lio took a deep breath, steadying himself. Just a few more minutes… Then he'd been in the thick of a fiery battle and, not long after that, in a helicopter bound for Kray's most remote Burnish prison. Child's play.

"Lio?" An unfamiliar voice made him stiffen and Lio had to bite down on the instinctive urge to lash out as he swung around, surprised. "Lio… Fuck, it really is you. I was so worried!"

And before Lio could even ask for a name, a man that he'd never seen in his life was rushing toward him. He stiffened, bracing to dodge an attack… But instead, what Lio got was a hug. Stunned, he blinked, but no. Lio wasn't dreaming. There were strong arms locked around his torso, crushing him into a desperate hug. His mouth opened and no words came out. What was Lio supposed to _say_? He thought that maybe this stranger was just confused, but he'd used Lio's name. His _name_. How did _anyone_ in this city know Lio's face, let alone his name?

He moved to pull back, uncomfortable, but the man let out a noise that sounded alarmingly close to a sob and just pulled Lio in closer. At that point, it was getting increasingly awkward for Lio, due in large part to the fact that this man was wearing a black shirt that was tighter than melanoma. It left _nothing_ to the imagination. Or out of Lio's face, since his head was sort of squished against the man's pectorals.

In an effort to try and hurry things along, he reached up and did his best to pat the man on the back. "Um… there, there?" Lio tried. "There's no reason to be worried. I'm fine." And on a time crunch. What the hell was _going on_?

Finally, the stranger pulled away. He took in Lio with a grin, eyes still shining with relieved tears. That smile fell away when he realized that Lio was much less happy, standing there bewildered and subtly trying to catch his breath. "Lio, what's wrong?" There was real concern in his eyes as he held Lio gently — far, _far_ too gently — by the shoulders. "Don't you recognize me? It's Galo! Galo Thymos?"

That name was not familiar in the slightest. Lio continued to stare then, managing a tense smile, slowly shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I don't know anyone by that name. Maybe you have the wrong person—?" He tried, but Galo was shaking his head before he'd even finished.

"No, you're Lio!" He insisted, which was true, yes. Lio was beginning to wonder if he was going to have to render this man unconscious to get out of this situation. "We met a week ago! Or, wait— do you not remember?" Galo did a double-take, blinking owlishly. Lio could practically hear the gears in his head whirring. "Look, I know I probably sound crazy, but we've met before. You're Lio Fotia, leader of the Mad Burnish, and I—"

The confusion on Lio's face was gone in an instant. He darted forward, shoving his fist into Galo's gut as hard as he could. When Galo doubled over, Lio grabbed him by his ridiculous rooster wanna-be hair, cutting off his gasp of pain and turning it into one of protest. Galo didn't get so much as a word out before Lio had yanked him forward, knocking his feet out from under him at the same time and slamming him face-first into the pavement. He let Galo roll over into his back, just to plant his boot into Galo's sternum and push him right back down.

"Try saying that again a little louder and I'll show you where else I could put my boot." Lio hissed. "What do you want?"

Outwardly, he made sure to look unphased. But, inside, Lio was panicking. This man — Galo Thymos — _knew_. He knew Lio's face and his name, his rank in the Mad Burnish. What else did he know? And Meis and Gueira, oh fuck, what if he got to them first? Lio would never forgive himself for it.

"I'm not trying to threaten you!" Galo wheezed, dazed. Regardless, he kept his hands open near his head, palms facing up. Like he was trying to show Lio that he was unarmed. That much was obvious upon one look at him, though, unless Galo had managed to stick an entire arsenal up his parachute pants. Those things were so baggy that Lio wouldn't have been surprised.

He didn't lessen the pressure he had on Galo's chest. "Not a threat?" He asked. "Then start talking. You have two minutes." Lio couldn't ask about Gueira and Meis, not yet. If this was a trick, he couldn't let this man or anyone listening in know that they were in the area or that Lio was concerned about them. That was an exploitable weakness.

"Well, you already know my name," Galo started, speaking far too casually when Lio had him pinned to the ground on his back where anyone who turned their head could see them. "I just— Look, it's been a weird day. I woke up and my phone said it was a week ago, then I got paged to come into work for a shift I've already done. And— And I remembered that you attacked this building, so I came to check just in case because the last time I saw you, you were—"

"Stop talking," Lio cut him off. He hesitated. Nothing about this seemed malicious if that hug was to be believed, but it still didn't make any sense. Galo _definitely_ knew that he was talking to the right person. He pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. Begrudgingly, Lio lifted his foot off of Galo's chest. "You're making no sense. And I don't have time to be talking about this, anyway."

Realization made Galo's eyes wide. He suddenly sat up and was on his feet in an instant. Lio wished that he'd kicked him back to the ground when Galo invaded his personal space _again_ to grab Lio's hand. "You mean your attack?" He demanded to know, intent. "No way, you can't do it, Lio."

And Galo knew about the attack, too! _How_? Lio scoffed. He yanked his hand free of Galo's surprisingly tender grip, scowling. "And what do you think you can do to stop me?" He shot back, ignoring that there was very much something that this civilian could do. Like alerting Freeze Force so that they arrived much sooner than they would otherwise.

"Stop you?" Galo blinked, then his eyes hardened. "I wouldn't dream of it. But you can't do it, because you're just going to get yourself arrested and I'm not letting you out of my sight."

The conversation was starting to grate on Lio's nerves something _fierce_. "Listen, I don't know what you think you can gain out of doing this, but—"

The fiftieth floor went up in flames, an explosion that ruptured every window without ten floors and sent the nearby buildings shaking. Galo let out a noise of surprise and, before Lio could stop him, had lurched forward to grab Lio without a shout of, "Look out!"

He found himself on his back with Galo huddled above him, using his body to shield Lio from the falling glass. Lio took a moment to be stunned by the dedication of a stranger, then growled in annoyance and shoved Galo off. "Oh, for fuck's sake—!"

He pointed directly above them and an elegant stream of fire left the tip of his finger, shooting up a few feet and then arching back down to cover the both of them like an umbrella. It solidified just in time to protect them from the glass, shards bouncing off of his chromatic construct as harmlessly as rain. All the while, Lio kept a pointed glare leveled at Galo's stunned face. Whether his self-sacrifice was genuine or not, Lio intended to make sure the message was clear: _he did not need to be protected._

They were still on the ground when the exit door was shoved open. Lio willed his construct away immediately but it went unnoticed. The employees who had been on the first floor darted out of the building screaming, some already on their phones either to contact the authorities or take a video. As frantic as they were, Lio was surprised that they managed to avoid trampling on either him or Galo.

Ignoring the crowd, Lio got to his feet and yanked Galo up with him. "Your two minutes are over. I have somewhere I need to be." And that was that. He turned toward the still-open exit door and planned on putting this strange occurrence far, far behind him.

He didn't get more than two steps away before Galo had grabbed him by the wrist. "Wait!" He shouted, pleading with just enough desperation that Lio _didn't_ break his wrist for continuing to interrupt this delicate mission.

" _What?_ " Lio seethed, yanking his hand free as he whirled on Galo. "What _the fuck_ could you _possibly_ want from me? I don't know you, I have no idea what you're going on about. I don't have time to entertain these delusions!"

"Look, Lio, I _know_ how ridiculous this all has to sound. Please, just—" Galo bit his lip. "If this happens how I remember it, you're going to go up there, and you're going to get arrested, then something really bad is going to happen. _Please_ , just stay."

Lio scowled, unimpressed. "Something _really bad_ , huh? Like what?"

Just as he expected, Galo began to sputter. "Well, I— I wasn't there for that part, and I know the breakout itself goes fine because I saw you after that—" He struggled for a moment. "But a few days later, you— I don't know what happened, but you were furious. You burned half the city to the ground." Galo's eyes were painful to look at. "You were crying. So whatever happened, I… I know it must've been horrible."

For a moment, Lio considered it. But only for a moment, because there was a building on fire behind him and, regardless of what Galo was saying, his two generals were waiting for him.

"I'll take my chances," he said flatly and Lio turned to walk away.

"I know what Kray Foresight is planning!" Galo didn't grab him, but his shout stopped Lio in his tracks just as well. "I can tell you what he's using the Burnish for, when he's planning to do it, and where— Everything!"

Slowly, _very slowly_ , Lio turned around. They were alone, at least for the moment. The alley would probably fill back up in a moment whenever the next wave of employees got to ground level from the stairwell. "You can't expect me to believe that," he said, but Lio was— hopeful, almost. All of Kray's plans, all the Burnish he'd ever captured in one fell swoop… Galo was just handing it to him. It sounded too good to be true. It _had_ to be.

Galo shook his head. "No, I don't. But it's true! He showed it to me himself, he explained everything." There was no way to fake the intensity in Galo's eyes. "And I can't let him go through with it. He's going to destroy the planet. Let me help you and the entire world, Lio. Call off this attack, and— and I'll tell you everything I know."

For the first time in a long, long time, Lio was struck speechless. He legitimately didn't know what to say. Galo was offering Lio everything he'd been working for these last few years. If even a fraction of what Galo said turned out to be true, if Kray really was planning something that would doom the world, then…

His eyes hardened. "Fine. You have a deal. Now come with me." Lio crooked a finger and heard Galo scamper behind him as they made their way toward the building's entrance. "I have to tell my generals to call the plan off." The only comfort was that at least the plan wasn't _completely_ unsalvageable. If Galo was lying, then Lio would just drop him back at the city with a good, hard kick in the ass and then try again on another building.

For someone who seemed so concerned about Lio's safety, Galo had no issues following him into a burning skyscraper. "You're not lying, are you?" He accused. "You'd better not just drag me up there and then go through with your attack anyway, Lio. Not like it's going to work since I'm not there to fight back."

Lio froze in the building's lobby. People were running around them in a frenzy, trampling over each other to be the first to reach an exit, but Lio barely paid it any attention. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?" He asked lowly, not turning to face Galo.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lio saw him shrug. "What? Oh, nothing important, really." Galo scratched his chin absently. "It just occurred to me that my Burning Rescue team is gonna get dispatched for this call. And since Ignis and Lucia stay on the ground, Aina's in her jet, and Varys and Remi will be evacuating people who got trapped… There's not gonna be anyone to fight you. Since, y'know, that's _my_ job and I'm right here."

Oh. Oh, _shit_ , this guy was a member of Burning Rescue. For a moment, Lio wanted to be pissed. Yet _another_ wonderful curveball had been thrown his way. One more thing he couldn't have possibly planned for or anticipated. His second impulse was to ask how the hell a barely entry-level age fireman had gotten a private audience with Kray Foresight's master plan. He didn't ask that, because then Lio had his third and final reaction: _he could use that_.

If Galo was right and his crew showed up to engage the fire, then he made a perfect hostage. Lio never took hostages or kept prisoners, but Galo was the one sticking to his side like glue. All he had to do was make a construct that looked like cuffs, throw Galo over one shoulder, and then he would be golden. Burning Rescue wouldn't dare try to attack if he had one of their teammates as a "human shield."

Lio actually found himself smiling. "Wonderful," he said. "In that case, I think we should change how we present ourselves to the cameras." Speaking of, he went ahead and shot out the few cameras that were visible in the lobby. There was no one else on the ground floor with them so, taking a deep breath, Lio summoned his armor.

Like with Detroit, it felt like he was just creating an extension of himself. Like his body was only a suggestion, because his consciousness filled up the armor as assuredly as it did his skin. He couldn't help but show off a little for Galo, perhaps taking a few seconds longer than _strictly_ necessary to get all the edges and points of his armor exactly perfect. His head was encased with a shark-toothed grin, three prominent points of fire leaving his helmet. The best part, in Lio's opinion, were his boots. They were more like walking on daggers and he _loved_ it, loved the thrill and the sense of power that came with every step.

When he opened his eyes, Galo was gaping at him from behind his tinted visor. As if he could sense Lio staring back, Galo's awe split into a grin. "That's just as awesome as the first time I saw it," he declared.

The praise was unexpected and unneeded, but… not _unappreciated_. Lio resisted the urge to preen like a peacock strutting its feathers and settled for rolling his eyes instead. As lovely as their conversation was, he was still on a time crunch. " _We need to go. Hold out your hands,"_ he said from behind his faceplate. " _This might be a bit uncomfortable, but I'm not going to let you get hurt."_

And Galo just nodded and did as instructed. Like Lio hadn't even needed to specify. Like he couldn't imagine a world in which Lio let him get hurt.

 _Honestly_ , what the fuck was up with this guy?

Since Lio wasn't a psychiatrist, he didn't even _try_ to puzzle that one out. He just reached down with both hands, summoning little dancing flames to his armored fingertips. _Don't burn don't burn don't burn_ , he chanted quietly to himself as his fire raced onto Galo's skin and encircled his wrists. He shuddered, but otherwise held still. Lio hadn't missed the medical sleeve on Galo's left arm. The amount of trust he had to have, to let Lio do this… He couldn't imagine it with anyone other than Gueira or Meis, let alone a stranger. How long did Galo think they had known each other for, anyway?

Regardless, Lio had made solid fire before that didn't burn. His armor, his bike, his sword… It took a moment, but his efforts were rewarded with a pair of monochromatic cuffs around Galo's wrists. He blinked down at them, confused. " _You're going to pretend to be my hostage in front of your rescue team,"_ Lio explained, straightening up. " _I need this to be believable for anyone watching."_

There was a sharp nod from Galo. "Whatever you say, Boss!" Quoting Lio's nickname was bad enough, but then he tried to do a salute and then remembered that his hands were bound. Lio didn't find it endearing. He _didn't_.

Instead of responding, Lio just picked Galo up by his waist and slung him over one shoulder. At least his shoulder plates weren't spiked. He was hoping that having a hostage would be enough for Gueira and Meis to stop without asking too many questions since it was so unlike Lio. Because he really didn't want to try and explain what was happening on top of a burning building.

Speaking of… It was about time that Lio got up there. And there were more than a hundred floors to go. Lio was about to propel himself upward when a sharp scream got his attention. He looked over and saw a woman in a lab coat scurrying out the exit door with a bag that she must've gone back for clutched in both hands. He snorted. Normal people ran running when they saw his armor, his _power_. Galo looked at him with a grin and willingly held out his hands.

What a ridiculous man.

Lio pushed himself off of the ground with sheer force of will, flames shooting from the tips of his heels as he used the hand not securing Galo to blast an opening in the ceiling above them. The first floor went up in flames and Galo let out a noise of surprise. By the second, once he'd figured out that Lio wasn't letting any of the rubble get near them, he'd started whooping. The cheering got lost in the wind as Lio launched them up faster and faster, blowing through floors so quickly that Lio could've sworn that there was no distance between them.

They burst onto the roof and were immediately swarmed with fire and smoke. Lio kept the flames away, although he couldn't help but wonder how Galo was handling the heat. He set Galo down on his feet, hands still bound, and was a little concerned to see that he was already flushed red and beginning to sweat. They would have to hurry this along, then.

" _Gueira! Meis!"_ Lio called. He couldn't see any of Burning Rescue nearby and, this high up, it was impossible for him to hear any sirens, either. It didn't seem that they had an audience.

The flames shifted and parted. The impressive bulk of Gueira's armor stepped out of the inferno. " _Boss! There's a group of scientists stuck on the balcony. Should we—?"_ He froze, finally seeming to notice Galo standing there. Seemingly unbothered by being surrounded by a blazing fire and two high-ranking members of the Mad Burnish, Galo twisted his bound wrists and offered a wave. " _Uh. What's this about?"_

Since he'd already decided not to hash out the details until they were safe, Lio settled on, " _Call off the attack. We're talking him hostage and leaving."_

He'd spoken just in time for Meis to hear as his armor became visible through the smoke, which was a good thing because Lio never liked to repeat himself. " _What?"_ Meis' voice was just below what could be called a shriek. " _We planned this attack for a month! And a hostage? You've never— Who even is this guy?"_ Lio didn't need to see his face to know what expression Meis was wearing.

" _Questions later,"_ Lio said in a voice that left no room for arguments. " _Gueira, you said that there are still civilians on the building. We'll need to temper the fire so that the smoke dies down enough for the rescue jet to land safely."_ He could hear its engines roaring somewhere above their heads, hidden from view. For now. The fire was hot enough to disguise their heat signatures, but when it died down, Lio was going to make sure that his "hostage" was front and center before they got blown off the roof.

There were a few seconds of tense silence. Then Gueira cursed, loudly, and Meis heaved out a long sigh before saying, " _If I didn't know you well enough to know that there's going to be a perfectly logical fucking explanation for this later…"_ He didn't finish his idle threat. With a jerk of the head, Meis gestured for Gueira to follow and they were off to complete Lio's request.

The fire began to abate almost immediately and Galo hummed noncommittally. "So which one's the second in command?" He asked, almost conversationally. "Do the horns mean anything?"

Lio was beginning to grow rather incredulous. He wondered if this was a sort of forced casualness or if Galo really saw no problem with what was happening. " _I said to save the questions for later,"_ he said, looking around. The smoke was clearing more easily with the fire fading out. Or, more aptly, Gueira and Meis were just coaxing it out of the way and toward the back of the building. He could see a red ship through the smoke now, and Lio assumed that the pilot would similarly have visual on them soon enough. " _Are you a good actor?"_

It took Galo a moment to realize that he was being addressed. Then he looked up at Lio and grinned. "I thought you said that we weren't asking questions."

Thankfully, Lio was wearing a helmet so Galo didn't have to see the way that he fought not to smile. He got the feeling that Galo's ego was big enough as it was.

" _Good point. Let's do this."_ For the Burnish. If this guy could deliver on what he had promised… then Lio's decision here was hardly a real choice.

He knotted a hand in the back of Galo's shirt, careful not to tear it, and hefted him off of the ground easily. Dangling Galo like a scruffed kitten, Lio stalked forward with purpose. The rescue jet had landed on the building's balcony, now clear of fire or smoke, and people were climbing inside. He felt Gueira and Meis hanging back, flanking him while keeping out of sight in the flames. Lio, however, was in full view, towering over everyone with his hostage kicking and squirming uselessly.

He knew that he'd been seen when the rescue jet's pilot suddenly jumped out without any protective gear. She was completely unfamiliar to Lio, with bubblegum pink hair and a burning fury on her face as she leveled a harmless freeze gun at his chest. "Galo!" She cried out. "How did you—? Let him go!"

To get his point across, Lio tightened his grip. His fingers were a far cry from actually touching Galo, but he did a convincing enough job of stiffening and crying out. There was a glare on Galo's face still, and Lio got the feeling despite having only known this man for maybe ten minutes that being defiant in the face of agony was perfectly in-character for him.

The noise that Galo made brought another look to the pilot's face: terror. Fear and anger fought for a place on her expression and Lio decided to simplify things for the sake of hurrying this along.

He tossed Galo aside like he couldn't care less, and the noise that Galo made when he hit the ground was genuine. Lio swallowed a faint prickle of guilt as Gueira stepped out of the flames, silently hoisting Galo none-too-gently to his feet. At least that part hadn't been faked. That was what Lio got for changing plans on his generals at the last second, though. They were going to lecture him for hours when they were done.

" _Get back in your ship,"_ Lio said, using his arguing-is-futile voice that could silence any room he walked into. Reaching into the flames behind him, Lio made a show of drawing fire into his hand and solidifying it, letting it take the form of a razor-sharp sword. With ease, as if it weighed nothing, Lio swung it around to point at Galo without taking his eyes off of the woman he was staring down. " _Complete your rescue and don't pursue us. I understand that he's important to your group."_ Very mild statements. No real threat. Lio was certain that the news would spin it into a horrific threat of crucifixion or some other nonsense, but he was doing his best not to give those anti-Burnish sentiments too much fuel.

"Aina!" Galo shouted then, and it clicked for Lio that this was probably her name. "Just go! I'll be okay." He grinned triumphantly at her like he was the one with the three of them in chains instead of the other way around. "You gotta get all those people to safety."

She'd finally decided on an expression. Horror. Slowly, she lowered her gun. "Galo… No, I'm not going to just—" Aina stiffened, touching a hand to her earpiece. Lio assumed that it was the team's captain relaying orders. The cameras around hadn't escaped his notice. "Captain, no! I can't! Galo's—"

Lio was tired of entertaining this farce. He turned his head and nodded to his generals, stepping away from the ledge. As he walked away, he heard Aina shouting for him to come back, but she didn't fire. Lio grabbed Galo by his bound wrists and picked him up again, over one shoulder. It was a good thing that he was so skilled at riding Detroit, otherwise, he might have actually had a little difficulty with balancing Galo like that while also driving.

Although to be fair, Detroit was an extension of his will. If Lio couldn't drive it perfectly any time he tried regardless of circumstance, then that said a lot more about his willpower than his abilities.

He summoned Detroit and sat upon it as gracefully as he would a throne, revving his engine. They probably only had a few minutes head start on Freeze Force, which wasn't _ideal_ , but if they stopped to talk to Burning Rescue about where they went, then hopefully they'd remember Lio's "threat" and stay tight-lipped about what direction they sped off in.

Shooting forward, Lio propelled his bike off the roof, leading the way. The whole time they fell, Galo was silent. It wasn't until they jarred against the pavement that Galo let out a strangled shout, and Lio realized that he'd been holding in cheers. Despite himself, he smiled.

Laying on speed, Lio tore through the city streets, neatly avoiding other vehicles and pedestrians. He knew that Gueira and Meis liked to be a whole lot less careful when it came to Promepolis' streets, but they followed his example. People started screaming after Lio had already passed them, almost like an echo. He got to hear the first few notes in high pitch before they were already gone.

He'd been going fast before but, once free of the city limits, Lio started pushing it harder. He just wanted to get out of the city's sight so he could stop, readjust Galo, and take the proper path to the settlement. Plus, speeding would hopefully get Gueira and Meis in a better mood so they wouldn't strangle him for this.

A few minutes into the Waste, the city was a blob on the horizon, so Lio pulled over next to an outcropping of rocks and got off. He left Detroit still next to him, trying to be fast. He set Galo, looking dazed, down on his feet and let the hand restraints fall away.

"Sorry about that," Lio said as his armor, similarly, dissolved into a flurry of colorful flames around him. "You did a good job talking to your co-worker. No one is coming after us, so you should be safe to ride on the back of my bike normally now."

"What the fuck, Boss?" Gueira caught up to them first, stepping off of his dirt bike before it had fully stopped. His armor dissolved mid-step as he came to stand next to Lio, scowling. Behind him, Meis pulled up in a less dramatic way. "All that planning wasted, and you're just gonna let him cling to the back of your bike like he's your date to the prom? Are you gonna tell us what's going on? Because he doesn't look all that much like a hostage to me."

That was because Galo had a huge grin on his face like he was a kid in a candy store and _not_ a kidnapping victim. Lio sighed at both of his generals, hands held out placatingly. "I understand that you're both frustrated. I'm not exactly thrilled about this turn of events, either." He shot a glance at Galo, who stared back blankly, as if not understanding that they were talking about him. "That being said, Galo has offered up invaluable information about Kray Foresight's plans And if the situation is as dire as he says, it would be comparable to suicide if we didn't at least hear him out."

Gueira and Meis exchanged a _look_. Between the two of them, Lio couldn't tell who was more annoyed. But after a minute of mouthing words and rolling their eyes (at each other, Lio was mostly sure), Meis sighed. "Well… I wasn't all that excited about letting us get thrown in prison, either," he said, lips pursed. "You're the boss, Boss. We'll follow you anywhere." Not that they weren't above giving him shit for it.

Lio smiled. "I know. Thank you."

Before returning to his dirt bike, Gueira jammed a finger in Galo's chest. The intimidation factor was somewhat lost by the fact that Galo had a good four inches of height over him. "You'd better not be wasting our time," he growled.

Galo's smile slipped. But instead of getting angry and rising to Gueira's bait, Galo turned serious. "It will be. The whole planet's at stake, and…" He took a deep breath. "And I promised myself that I wouldn't let Lio die again."

With one leg already over his bike, Meis had to catch himself as his concentration suddenly snapped and the construct disappeared beneath him. His head whipped around so fast that it had to hurt, hair slapping against his face before he impatiently pushed it back. "What do you mean _again_?" He demanded, closing the distance between him and Galo in an instant.

It looked like Gueira was about to throw a punch (or a blast of fire, more than likely), so Lio was quick to put himself between Galo and his generals. "Calm down!" He tried to sound comforting but it ended up coming out just as being angry. "I'm fine, I'm certainly not _dead_. Galo must just be mistaken."

"I am not!" Galo retorted, with a sudden intensity that caught Lio by surprise. He turned away from Gueira and Meis to fix Galo with a glare. Usually, that look could silence anyone, but Galo just stared back and, without faltering, continued. "I was trying to tell you before the building exploded, I'm starting to think that I'm from the future." And, ignoring how ridiculous that sounded, Galo started waving his hands around and loudly ranting. "I remember your attack on that building happening, I remember getting you arrested and then running into you after you escaped! But all of that happened _a week ago_. A bunch of shit happened, but— but we ended up facing off against Kray together. Me and you." He pointed to Lio. The idea of confronting the Burnish's greatest enemy without either Meis or Gueira, doing it with a _stranger_ , made Lio's gut twist. Something must have gone horribly wrong. "That's the last thing I remember. I tried to save you, but you…" Galo quieted. "You turned to ash, Lio. Kray killed me. Then I woke up back in bed like nothing happened."

Lio couldn't figure out what to say. It would be easy to explain Galo's recollections away as just a dream, but that didn't explain how he'd known who Lio was and where to find him. That didn't explain how some pinhead who'd never left the city knew that Burnish turned to ash when they died.

He had _died_. Kray had killed them, killed them both. Lio looked over his shoulder at his generals — Gueira had gone pale and Meis looked like he was a hundred miles away.

"We need to get back to the settlement. _Now_ ," Lio said quietly.

That time, there were no complaints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to promise any regular updates, this is just something that I've been messing around with in my free time in between other projects. I've got a plot planned for this, sort of, but updates will happen whenever I get around to it.


	2. He Still Can't Believe How Arbitrary Fate Is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are okay with literally half of this entire fic just being Lio and Galo speaking to each other. Because that's all I wanted after I watched the movie.
> 
> Also, thanks so much for all the amazing feedback I received on the first chapter. Like, that's incredibly motivating and I was so flattered! Sorry this chapter is kind of boring, but I figured we'd get the info dump out of the way early so we don't have to stop for an explanation once we get going.
> 
> The chapter title comes from "Gotta Be A Reason" by Alec Benjamin. It's an emotional song all around, but I think the first verse applies to Lio post-movie. Can anyone say survivor's guilt and PTSD?

Arriving at the settlement was tense, to say the least. The usual greetings that Lio got from his people when he returned were immediately subdued when they realized that he'd brought a stranger with him. And then the silence was filled with whispers when they quickly surmised that Galo was not Burnish.

At the moment, Lio's settlement held only thirty-one Burnish, each of them a fighter. Gathering so many who were willing to fight hadn't been easy, but he'd been planning on bringing normal citizens to live here. That was what his failed attack had been about: getting arrested so that he could break them out and bring his brethren here, where there would be plenty of people capable of and willing to protect them.

Hiroshi was at the front of their welcoming party, with Ramona at his side. The fact that he was there when they got up the stairs was good — it meant that their current lookout was doing a good job. "Boss." His eyes flickered between the four of them, lingering on Galo. "Back so soon? Did something happen?"

No point in denying it. Lio never threw away plans if he could help it. He gave a curt nod, not pausing his gait. "Some new information about the Foresight Foundation has been brought to my attention. I'm going to discuss the matter with Gueira and Meis, as well as our guest. Afterward, I'll hold a meeting to inform you all about what we've learned as well as brainstorm what to do next. Until then, the four of us aren't to be disturbed unless it's an emergency."

His orders came quick as a whip and without any room for an argument. Lio had already moved past the group, and while he hated to leave his fellow Burnish out of it, he knew that he couldn't possibly interrogate Galo thoroughly with thirty other people hovering over his shoulder. Gueira's short temper alone was going to make the process a headache.

They went through the settlement uninterrupted, with Galo right behind Lio and Gueira and Meis taking up the rear. Possibly to make sure that Galo didn't try anything, which Lio thought was a bit unnecessary. Every time he looked over his shoulder, Galo was craning his neck and twisting his head this way and that with wide eyes. Lio didn't think that their settlement was anything special (yet), but he didn't comment. If Galo was impressed by an old, slightly-singed construction area near the base of a volcano, then good for him.

Lio hadn't expected to return to the planning room so soon, but it hardly mattered. All the plans from before had been burned, leaving him with an innocuous map of Promepolis on the far wall and a creaky wooden table without anything on it. There was no door, just a curtain they'd hung in front of the entrance for some semblance of privacy. No one had followed them and Lio wasn't concerned about being listened in on, anyway. If the information Galo told him was valuable, then all of his men were going to know it in due time.

He had to focus a little harder to make a construct that wasn't on fire, but Lio soon had a black-and-purple stool that he dropped in the most open part of the room. "Sit," he commanded, looking at Galo, and couldn't help but be surprised when he obeyed without question.

His men listened to Lio because he had earned their respect. With Galo, Lio had no idea where that was coming from. But he had more important things to be thinking about.

"Okay." Lio leaned against the table, trying not to look as weary as he felt. They hadn't even gotten started yet. "You claim to be from a week in the future." Gueira muttered something that Lio didn't catch, although his eye-roll was unmistakable. Both went ignored. "The possibilities of time-travel aside, I want you to tell me everything you remember happening, from today to when you— when _we_ died. You aren't leaving this room until we have all of the information."

"And don't leave anything out," Meis added. "Even if you think it's unimportant. We'll be the judges of that."

"Uh, alright." Galo nodded, straightening. He cupped his chin, head tilted, and thought deeply for a few moments before speaking. "I woke up this morning before and went to work at Burning Rescue. I'm still kinda new, only been there for nine months, so they treat me like a rookie and give me the boring jobs. I remember it was a _really_ normal day, I went and got a burger and fries for lunch ended up falling asleep in the Mega Max. I woke up when the alarms started, but we'd already dispatched by then, so…" He shrugged. "No harm done. I was wide awake when we got to the scene. Foresight Pharmaceuticals was on fire and the rescues were going fine, but there were still people on the roof and too much smoke for our rescue jet to land. I got launched up there and I cleared the smoke, and…" Galo trailed off for a moment. They all knew what happened next. "Y'know, then I saw you three, all decked out in your armor."

Gueira snorted. "You mean we had to let _you_ take us down? Talk about embarrassing."

Galo scowled, but was smart enough not to take the bait. Or maybe Lio's glare convinced him to keep his ass in his seat. Either way, a fight didn't break out despite Gueira's goading and, for that, Lio was grateful. " _Anyway_ , after our fight _that I won legitimately_ , you three got arrested and hauled off by Freeze Force. Then things were normal for a few days. I didn't notice anything weird, at least. I just did my usual shifts." Galo shrugged with one shoulder. "I got a notice from the governor's office that they were gonna give me an award. So I went to the ceremony and Kray made a speech and gave me a medal…" His expression was just as disgusted as the rest of theirs. " _Yeah_. After that, me and my rescue team went to get pizza at this place we like. The guy who was making the pizzas, I didn't know, but he just…" Galo hesitated. When Lio was about to ask where this pizza tangent was going, he continued. "Freeze Force showed up and arrested him for being Burnish. They just attacked him in the middle of the restaurant, when all he was doing was making pizzas. They arrested the owner, too, for knowingly harboring a _terrorist_." He spat the word with venom.

Meis sucked in air through his teeth. "Shit," he muttered. "We didn't know that they were getting that desperate."

Choosing to stay quiet, Lio only nodded. That was worrying, but not surprising. It meant that Kray felt ready to accelerate his plans and he hadn't cared how people reacted to it. Although, Lio highly doubted that very many people in the city were going to protest that sort of treatment for Burnish. Aside from Galo, apparently.

"I was upset, but it's not like I could do anything about it, so I went for a drive in the mountains. There's this place up there where I like to go when I clear my head. While I was up there, I saw this…" Galo trailed off, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tried to pick the right word. "...Burnish flare. I think. I mean, it looked like one, but I've never seen one act like that. It wasn't burning anything, it was just in the sky like it was flying, and it came down for a landing near the base of the mountain."

"That was me," Lio cut in before Galo could strain himself with thinking too hard. "I can fly with my flames. The location that you described is where I would have brought the Burnish that we escaped prison with." He would have to pick a new place, though. If they ended up letting Galo go, deeming him unhelpful, then Lio couldn't very well continue using the same information that Galo already knew. Even if he acted like an idiot. At least Lio knew that his plan would have worked — for whatever Galo's word was worth.

"Really?" Galo looked impressed and starry-eyed for a moment before catching himself. "Right. Well, uh, anyway, I decided to investigate. I went into the cave expecting to see some terrorists plotting their next move, but there was just… people. Children, too. All of them sitting around a fire and not doing anything." There was a muttered, " _no shit,"_ from Gueira. Galo didn't seem to have heard. "I lowered my freeze gun, but I guess by then I got caught, because I just remember a pain in my neck and waking up who knows how long later."

He didn't voice it that time, but Lio was pretty sure that was him, too. No matter how stealthy Galo thought he was in the moment, Lio wasn't about to let anyone get within a mile of his people without him knowing. He was reassured by the thought that Galo wouldn't have shot, though. For whatever it was worth, Galo had never been without morals — just misguided.

"When I came to, you were there." Galo gestured at Lio and then suddenly clammed up, looking away. "You guys were just eating. You didn't talk much. And then a while later, Gueira and Meis showed up and told you the truck was ready so you all left." Lio got the feeling that Galo wasn't telling the whole story about what happened in that cave, but he chose not to push it and marked that for later. If Galo thought that he was going anywhere without providing the whole story, then he was in for a rude awakening once they were alone. "That's the last time that I saw either of you—" Galo nodded between Gueira and Meis, "—and Lio never told me what happened, so I can't say. I think it was bad, though. He was really angry and upset the next time that I saw him."

And just like that, the atmosphere grew tense again. Uncomfortable, Lio was about to ask Galo to move on, but Gueira beat him to it. "How angry are we talking, exactly?" There was a look on his face that Lio couldn't place.

Galo hesitated, but must've remembered that he was trying to earn their trust because he answered, albeit slowly. "Well… He'd made himself a dragon out of fire that was taller than City Hall and was threatening to burn the city to the ground without mercy…" Silence. "His body was all black fire, too. He looked like obsidian. The expression on his face was just... Wow. I've never seen _anyone_ that angry. And—" Galo shot Lio an apologetic look as he finished, "—he was crying."

There wasn't a sound in the room. Lio could feel his generals staring at him, and he'd gone so stiff that his body was protesting. His arms ached where Lio was digging his fingers into his skin.

He knew that. Galo had said that to him before. As an enormous dragon, he had burned half the city to the ground. But knowing that it coincided with Meis and Gueira apparently disappearing, that was… That was something else.

Lio didn't cry. Not anymore. Not if he could help it. But if there was one loss that was capable of changing that, it was losing his two most trusted companions. The closest friends he'd ever had. They must have been dead. There was no way that they would have allowed Lio to fall into such anguish and hatred if they had been around to talk sense into him.

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Lio said flatly, purposefully ignoring Meis trying to get his attention. "What happened after you found us in the cave?"

It took a few tries for Galo to figure out how he wanted to continue, until eventually, he said, "You told me something in the cave about Kray doing human experiments on the Burnish. I only knew him as the Governor, so I didn't believe you. But it didn't sit right with me, either. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I went to confront him about it first thing the next morning."

The laugh that Gueira let out was more of surprise than any amusement. "Really? You just waltzed into the Governor's office and asked for an audience with Promepolis' busiest piece of shit? And they _let you_?"

Galo nodded. He didn't seem happy about it. "Yeah."

Well. That wasn't the answer that Lio was expecting. His generals seemed similarly perplexed. Straightening, Meis asked, simply, "Why?"

"Well—" Embarrassed wasn't the right word for the look on Galo's face. _Ashamed_ was more apt. "It's because I sort of… I go way back with Kray." He looked at the ground. "He saved my life when I was a kid, pulled me out of my house when it went up in flames. The fire killed my parents," Galo muttered. "He was a college student when it happened. The rescue got him a bunch of attention for his anti-Burnish research and inventions. You guys know the rest. He ended up a billionaire CEO and the city's governor…" He took a deep breath that filled the entirety of his lungs, letting it out as a sigh. "...all thanks to me."

It was clear by the way Galo was holding himself that he was expecting to get lectured or hit. His shoulders were tense, his eyes were squeezed shut, and he was holding his breath. But nothing happened. After several long seconds without any response, Galo opened his eyes. The surprise on his face was the final nail in the coffin. Lio abruptly stopped leaning on the table. He was getting so heated that he was worried about singing the wood.

Glancing over, Meis and Gueira weren't faring much better. They were all angry, but not at Galo. Gueira was the one who said, "Is that what he told you?"

Galo blinked, head tilted in confusion. "What?"

"Kray," Gueira specified, saying the name with so much heat that flames flickered along his lips. "Did he tell you that shit, that you're somehow to blame for what he ended up doing?"

"Um, no. I mean, not like that, exactly. He—" Galo chewed on his lower lip, clearly at a loss for the turn that their conversation had taken. "I sorta had a lot of time to myself to think about everything. He ended up throwing me in a cell for a week. Wasn't like there was anything to do other than think." He shrugged one shoulder. "I came to those conclusions on my own. All he really said was that I was useful for building his reputation."

"Then you came to the wrong conclusions," said Meis. His expression was tight. "You're not to blame for anything. Everything that Kray did was his own choice, not a kid's. The adults who validated his discrimination had a way bigger part in it than you ever did." He looked like he was willing to fight anyone who disagreed.

No one was disagreeing with him, though. Galo considered it, until he said, slowly, "The truth is, Kray didn't save my life, either. He just took credit for it." Lio wasn't surprised. What Galo said next, however, just about knocked him flat on his ass. "He's the one who set my family's house on fire. It was an accident. He's Burnish, and he couldn't control it."

"Seriously?" Lio's jaw was practically on the floor and his eyebrows were attempting to disappear into his hairline. "Kray Foresight is _Burnish_? You're absolutely certain of this?"

No hesitation, just a terse nod. "Yeah. I saw him using flames myself," Galo said.

Oh. Oh, wow. That changed _everything_. Lio believed Galo, despite having no real reason to. In a sick sort of way, it made sense. With that in mind, Lio was glad that he hadn't tried to launch an attack against Kray. If he was Burnish, then it stood to reason that he was powerful and experienced. Lio was out of practice fighting other Burnish. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle Kray alone.

"That _bastard_ ," Gueira growled, and Lio was sharply reminded that he didn't need to fight alone anymore. "The whole time, he's been one of us?"

"No," Lio cut in. He fixed Gueira with a heavy look. "Just because he can control flames doesn't mean that he's Burnish. We're part of a community. We're _family_. What we've made together is far more meaningful than having a random mutation."

Meis punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Yeah," he agreed quietly, "and don't think that you're getting out of talking about this later, either. Family means that we take care of each other. Even you, Boss."

Ordinarily, Lio would entertain his generals being soft on him, but he glanced at Galo and cleared his throat pointedly. Attachments were exploitable, and that made them weaknesses. He still didn't trust Galo entirely and, even if he did, there was a chance that Galo could be captured and interrogated. A slim chance, sure, but just like he did with everyone else, Lio had to make sure that Galo had no valuable information to give away if such an event were to occur.

At this point, though, Galo seemed to be the only one with anything important to say at all.

"We're moving too quickly again," Lio said breezily, as if his mind wasn't still reeling. "Galo, continue where you left off. You went to confront Kray about his human experiments. What then?"

Galo scratched his chin, head tilted thoughtfully. "Hm… He admitted to it easily. Didn't even try to deny it. And when I asked _why_ , he took me underneath City Hall and showed me this…" He made a gesture with both hands that Lio didn't understand. "...absolutely _huge_ spaceship. Kray called it the Parnassus. It's going to take ten thousand people to a new planet. He said that the Earth's magma has been out of control since the Burnish first appeared thirty years ago and now we've only got six months until it all comes gushing out and burns the entire planet to a crisp. So, using the Burnish, he managed to harness their flames and create a warp gate. At the price of, well, killing them in the process."

It was quiet for a long time. Lio worked his jaw a few times, trying to think of some way to reply, but nothing would come out. He eventually gave up and closed his mouth.

Where did he even _begin_ to unpack all of that?

The Earth was doomed. They only had six months to live. Kray had somehow figured out that Burnish flares could unlock a warp gate. He had decided that migration was the best way to ensure the survival of the human race.

Kray was going to leave the entire planet to die.

How was Lio supposed to feel? Angry? Shocked? Betrayed? At the moment, he just felt numb. Like a part of him was still holding out hope that Galo was lying.

Eventually, Gueira was the one to speak up. "What happened after that?" He asked in a quiet tone that Lio had never heard from him before.

Speaking was something that Galo did very well, putting almost no thought into it. He seemed relieved to go back to talking in the wake of the heavy silence that had fallen over them. "I told Kray that I would find a way to extinguish the Earth's magma, and he threw me in jail." The relief faded in the face of such a bitter memory. Galo made a face, but continued without needing to be promoted. "I stayed in there until Lio started burning the city with his giant dragon. He was making the ground shake and shooting off Burnish flares all over the place, which eventually ended up breaking open my cell. I could tell that he was upset, and I couldn't let him keep burning the city anyway, because of all the innocent people who live there, so I went to meet up with my rescue team. I got my gear and managed to knock you out of the way before you could attack Kray."

Lio was annoyed despite himself. He embraced the feeling, because it was better than being listless. "You stopped me from attacking Kray?" He repeated flatly. It wasn't a real question.

(Not that he would admit it, but Lio was a little impressed. After all that Kray had done, Galo still didn't let Lio kill him.)

"It wasn't an attack," Galo said defensively. "You once told me that you're not a killer. I stopped you from doing something that you would regret. 'Sides—" He shook his head. "—killing Kray wouldn't have fixed the real problem."

He almost retorted that freeing all of the Burnish was most certainly worth killing for, until Lio remembered that it wasn't about the Burnish. This had the entire planet riding on it. The temporary satisfaction that he would feel from killing Kray wasn't going to fix the problem of the Earth's magma.

Maybe Galo had a point. But at the moment, Lio couldn't imagine that he would regret killing Kray all that much. If he wasn't the leader of the Mad Burnish, then maybe, but he was their figurehead. He had an image to maintain, an example to set. He couldn't kill just because he felt that it was justified. Then what was to stop everyone else from doing the same?

Much as it pained him, Lio nodded once. "You're right," he ground out, ignoring the incredulous looks he got from Gueira and Meis. "Thank you for stopping me."

Apparently not noticing his inner conflict, Galo beamed. "You were pretty angry at the time, but I knew you'd come around once you had some time to cool off and think clearly again! We fought about it for a while, but I managed to get you back out to the frozen lake. We landed in it and you cooled off really fast, then, uh…" He balked. "Okay, this is going to sound ridiculous, but hear me out. You melted the entire lake and, beneath it, there was a huge underground lab. The computer let us in and told us that his name was Deus Prometh."

"Prometh?" Meis tapped his chin with a hum. "That name is familiar…"

"Wasn't he a researcher?" The more that Lio thought about it, the harder it was to remember specifics, but fuzzy details came back to him. "Yeah. I think that he was a big part of Burnish research before and for two decades after the Great World Blaze, but then he disappeared." Or, at least, Lio couldn't remember any mention of him in history after that.

Shame. He'd been one of the few advocating humane treatment of Burnish. Without Deus Prometh backing them, there were almost no researchers willing to tell the public and the politicians that the Burnish were people, too, and it wasn't okay to treat them as subhuman.

Galo shrugged. "I don't know. He just told us that Kray killed him and stole his research. Then he uploaded his consciousness into a computer…?" He scratched his head thoughtfully. "He didn't explain that part very well. Anyway—" He continued, ignoring the three questioning stares he was getting, "He also explained the truth about where Burnish come from."

Now _that_ had Lio's attention. At his side, Gueira groaned. "Are you _serious_? And you couldn't have opened with that?"

"You guys told me to do it in order!" Galo huffed, folding his arms over his chest. As if the world hadn't been dying to learn that piece of information for _three decades_ now! Before they could demand Galo tell them, he was already opening his mouth. "I didn't understand most of it, and I'm pretty sure that I fell asleep a couple of times, but the gist of what he said is that the flames are actually little fire-like lifeforms from a parallel universe. He called them the promare." Galo made a gesture with his hands that was probably supposed to be a fire. Or maybe an explosion. "And they're, like, synced with the Earth's core, however that works. Deus told us that when Kray activates his ship, it's going to somehow cause the Earth to explode. Not just burn, but actually, like, reduce it to chunks."

More silence. The Earth was doomed. Again. Lio's body was being co-piloted by a conscious flame from an alternate universe. The man who unlocked the secrets of the Burnish was housed in an AI at the bottom of a frozen lake. Lio took a shaky breath when he realized that he hadn't been breathing and the black spots in his vision were starting to get overwhelming.

"...Finish your story quickly," Meis said evenly, "so that I can go get some fresh air." And probably burn something, knowing him.

Usually, Lio would tell him that there were better ways to handle his emotions. But Lio sort of wanted to set something on fire, too. He felt so _tired_.

Galo nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, so, Deus gave me and Lio a giant robot that he's been working on so that we could fight Kray. It had one of his perfected pods in it, so it harnesses Lio's energy to power it without hurting him. We fought Kray, who also had a robot that wasn't _nearly_ as cool as ours, and we managed to destroy it. 'Course, when we did, he revealed that he was Burnish. He kidnapped Lio and took the pod, saying something about using Lio to replace the ship's core — which got busted during the fight when the ship crashed, not important. Kray also attacked me before he flew off with Lio, and Lio gave me, uh—" He seemed confused. "I guess it was his fire?" Galo completely missed the way that the tension in the room doubled. Gueira tried to say something, and Lio smacked him on the arm, mouthing, _"Not now!"_ Their exchange went entirely over Galo's head. "So Lio's flame protected me and I met back up with my rescue team. I got a drill that took me to the core. I managed to destroy it and knock Lio free, but—" He shuddered and looked away, energy leaving him as his shoulders sagged. "It was too late. He was… Lio crumpled to ash before I could do anything to help. He was trying to tell me something, too. I don't know what. He said that I could still fix everything, that he'd figured it out, but… And without his fire to protect me, Kray killed me pretty easily." Galo glanced at Lio, his expression unreadable, then away again. "Then I woke up in my bed like nothing happened."

Abruptly, Meis moved toward the room's exit. He'd barely managed to wait for Galo's mouth to close. "I'll be back before sundown," he said without turning around. Lio didn't try to stop him. If he wasn't too stunned to move, he probably would have done the same.

"Yeah," Gueira agreed, his gaze thousands of miles away. "I'll be back, Boss, but I need to go burn something and clear my head. Just…" He struggled for the right words. " _Fuck_."

Lio nodded vacantly. Yes, "fuck" summed it up nicely.

Before Gueira left the room, though, he set a hand on Lio's shoulder. "I'll stay at the settlement," he said quietly, for only Lio to hear. "Y'know, just in case you need help. With anything." His gaze strayed toward Galo, but Lio knew that Gueira wasn't only talking about their tangible problems.

"I know." Lio set a hand over Gueira's and gave it a fleeting, affectionate squeeze before removing the touch from his body entirely. There were still prying eyes. He had a reputation to maintain. "I'll let you know if I need help. Keep an eye on Meis for me." It wasn't a question because Lio didn't need to ask.

Gueira gave him a wide grin. "What else do I do around here?" He joked. He waved at Lio and, like that, he was out the door and gone.

Collecting himself, tucking all of those complicated thoughts away for later, Lio turned back to Galo. His generals may have left, but the interrogation wasn't over. There was no point in excusing himself to think when Lio still didn't have all of the information.

Galo opened his mouth but, before he could get a word out, Lio cut him off. "You can tour the rest of the settlement, if you want," he offered. None of the important parts, obviously. "Before that, I believe the deal we made was that you aren't leaving this room until you've told me everything."

He waited. Galo scrunched up his face, either because he didn't like that Lio remembered or because he was thinking hard about the specific word choice they'd used. After a minute of thought, Galo finally said, "I thought I did tell you everything?"

The innocent lilt of his voice didn't fool Lio for a second. He was shaking his head before Galo had finished. "No. You brushed over all of the main parts, but you left out others even though we told you not to." He paused, just to watch Galo squirm. Then, being carefully emotionless, said, "I want to know what really happened in that cave."

His earlier assessment that Galo had been holding back was proven to be correct. Lio watched him pale and work his jaw soundlessly a few times until Galo managed to pull himself together and stuttered, "I don't— I mean, I told you what happened already. It wasn't anything— y'know, _more_ than that."

Lio let the silence linger perhaps longer than strictly necessary. He wanted to let Galo's discomfort increase and watch him squirm for a minute. When it looked like Galo was about to start rambling in an effort to fill the quiet, Lio cleared his throat. "Galo," he said softly, and Lio could've _sworn_ that he saw Galo shudder. "How am I supposed to be able to trust you if I already know that you're withholding information from me?"

Nothing. Galo stared at him, lips parted and eyes wide. Lio could tell when the realization finally hit him and almost found it amusing that he could practically _see_ the gears in Galo's mind working overdrive to muddle through this problem. He knew that he'd won, so Lio said nothing, waiting for Galo to speak on his own time.

It wasn't that Lio didn't trust Galo, although that was part of it. He was willing to admit, at least to himself, that most of his curiosity stemmed from personal interest. Because…

Because he didn't know Galo in the slightest. Because Lio had woken up to a normal day with the biggest mission of his life on his shoulders and gotten torn away from it by a stranger crying into his hair. Because Galo claimed to have only known him for a week and a few days, most of which he spent isolated in prison, and yet the thought of Lio dying still sent him into such raw panic.

Honestly, Lio just wanted to know what he had done. What had he done that impressed Galo so much, that left such an impact, that made Lio _worth it_ to him?

That made stopping Kray and saving the Earth secondary to ensuring that Lio was alright.

"Okay." Galo let out a sigh that took his entire body with it, slumping forward in the chair. He ran a hand through his ridiculous hair and rested his head in his hands for a moment before lifting it to make eye contact with Lio again. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. The cave, it was just…" He bit his lip. "Honestly, it was the first time I saw how human you Burnish can be. It really affected me. I never thought that you guys deserved to be hunted down and imprisoned wrongfully, but it never occurred to me that you also do really basic things like eating or… crying when you lose someone."

Galo's voice dropped into a whisper for that last part, which was the only reason why Lio didn't interrupt him. He swallowed his indignation, repressed the urge to roll his eyes and bite out a snappy, " _no shit,"_ and let Galo tell the story he hadn't wanted Gueira or Meis to hear.

"There was a Burnish girl," Galo continued, hanging his head. Lio couldn't see his face but imagined the tight expression he'd have, glaring at the ground. "She was wrapped in bandages. I don't know what they did to her, but she was dying. You did something. You leaned over her and… it wasn't CPR, more like you were just breathing into her."

"Giving her my fire," Lio corrected quietly. Galo's head snapped up in surprise like he'd forgotten that Lio was still in the room. "It's a resuscitation method that powerful Burnish can do. I must have been trying to keep her fire going by giving her some of mine." But Lio couldn't replace someone's fire with his own. If there was nothing left to keep burning, then giving someone his fire was as pointless as trying to ignite a pile of ashes.

There was a rock in Lio's gut, and it sank hard when Galo smiled bitterly. "It didn't work," he muttered, and Lio felt his breath catch even though he'd been expecting that answer. "She turned to ash. You said her name. It was Thyma, I think." Galo touched his left arm, the one with the compression sleeve, absentmindedly. "I never got her name when we met before. It was nice to know, even if it didn't really matter." He closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. "I never told her that I wasn't angry. That I didn't blame her for…" Galo's left fist clenched and that was when Lio understood.

The distance between them closed as Lio crossed the room, bending his knees to be at eye-level with Galo. "Can I…?" He gestured to the arm sleeve that Galo wore. He'd noticed it before, sure, but it was common for a firefighter to be burned. Lio hadn't expected it to have been from a Burnish.

He hesitated, but just when Lio was about to apologize for being rude, Galo nodded once. With practiced ease, he reached under the sleeve of his shirt and released the straps holding his arm sleeve in place. Galo slid it off and Lio let out a sharp breath.

It was extensive. The burn stretched all the way up Galo's arm, pink and puckered skin disappearing under his sleeve. Most of his arm was a scorched white, with the places that had been burned the hottest pink and slightly raised. As familiar as he was with fire, burns were uncharted territory for Lio. He'd never seen skin like this before. Immediate burns — the kind that left bodies blackened and twisted and deformed — those were intimately familiar to him, but this looked like it had been healing for several months. Lio had never seen the aftermath like this. It was almost pretty.

Galo flexed his arm idly and the skin stretched and rippled in response. Lio wanted to touch it, though luckily, he had the sense to know that feeling up Galo's arm was not a good idea. "It didn't hurt at the time," Galo said conversationally. "It still doesn't hurt much. The doctors said that the nerves in this arm are pretty much shot. I don't mind. The scar doesn't bother me either, I just…" He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "This is just how you're supposed to take care of a severe burn. That, and I don't want my rescue team to see it all the time. This was my first mission. My first day on the job, even. I don't want to remind them that I got hurt when I was just supposed to be on standby."

"That's awfully thoughtful of you," Lio murmured, not looking at Galo. And not really talking about him, either. How many things had Lio hidden because he didn't want anyone to worry?

He supposed that he was doing it now, pushing Galo for more answers without Meis or Gueira there to witness their conversation.

"Can you, uh…?" Galo held out his arm sleeve awkwardly. "Hold it open for me, I mean. I can do it myself, it's just harder. With the one hand and everything."

Lio found himself reaching out to take it automatically. "Of course." He held the arm sleeve open for Galo and helped him slide it back into place. As soon as Lio could see that Galo had it, though, he pulled his hands back and had to clamp down on the urge to wipe his hands off on his pants.

He was wearing gloves, so it hadn't even been skin-to-skin contact, but there was something about leaning that close to Galo with his fingers dancing over his biceps that made Lio feel like he had made a mistake. At least he wasn't the only one who was red in the face, although it was possible that Galo was just embarrassed by having to ask for help.

"I'm… Thank you, for telling me those things," Lio said finally. "For trusting me." He wished that it could go both ways. But Lio wasn't letting Galo out of his sight any time soon and wasn't letting him in on any important information if he could help it. The location of the settlement was more than enough trust for a stranger that claimed to be from the future, in Lio's opinion.

"Yeah. Of course." Galo smiled like Lio had just handed him the world. He was still cradling his left arm, hand cupped over the place where Lio's fingers had been. Lio wondered if Galo's skin felt hot where they had been touching. The tips of his fingers were still tingling. The air in the room felt heavy. When Lio stayed silent, Galo's smile fell. "I wish I could've brought more good news. You have a lot to think about, huh?"

He pursed his lips unhappily. Lio wondered if his emotions were that clear on his face or if Galo was just good at reading people. "Yes," admitted Lio evenly. "It's a lot to wrap my mind around. Aliens and parallel universes… Kray being Burnish… The end of the world…" He set a hand to his temple, closing his eyes to ward off an upcoming headache. "Where do I go from here?"

It was quiet for a beat while they both thought. "We could visit that lab beneath the frozen lake," Galo suggested. "I bet Deus could explain everything in a more detailed way and answer your questions better. Plus, he'd give us that giant robot again and we could take another crack at defeating Kray." He made a fist with one hand and punched his palm. "I want a rematch," said in such a low voice that Lio had trouble matching up the anger in Galo's tone to the kind-hearted person sitting in front of him.

"No," Lio said immediately. He hesitated. "At least, not yet. No, this changes so much… I need to consult my generals as well as the others. If a full-frontal assault ended with both of us dead last time, I can't imagine that rushing right into it again will be much better."

A wave of Lio's hand made the stool that he'd constructed disappear in a rush of sparks. Galo let out a grunt of effort as he just barely caught himself before he could fall, stumbling on his feet, but Lio was already turning toward the exit.

"Meis was right," Lio muttered. "I need some air to think about this."

He paused, hand on the doorway. Lio looked over his shoulder at Galo, holding himself awkwardly in the middle of the room. With the table barren and the walls mostly blank, his ridiculous red-and-orange parachute pants made Galo look horribly out of place.

Saying nothing, Lio arched an eyebrow. Galo bristled. "What?" He asked defensively, pressing a hand over his mouth self-consciously. "Do I have something in my teeth?"

Lio counted to three in his head to make sure that he wasn't going to smile. When he felt composed again, he said, "You're supposed to stay by my side for as long as you're here at the settlement. Are you coming or not?"

Another dazzling smile was Lio's answer. "Always," Galo said, so sincerely and earnestly that Lio could only stand there stupidly and stare at him for several long seconds.

There must have been something else that Galo left out of his story. Because Lio still couldn't wrap his mind around that look on Galo's face. He was staring at Lio almost like…

"Good answer," Lio settled on finally, his expression as flat as ever. He left the room and, just as promised, Galo followed.

It was alarming that Lio had already gotten used to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if you're interested, follow me over on my Tumblr @karkalicious769. I talk about my Promare brain rot a lot, and sometimes my fics (especially if I get asks about it (I've been known to give out sneak peeks for upcoming chapters)). I also reblog fanart a bunch. I'll be honest, I just need more Promare mutuals. (None of my posts ever get into the main Promare tag and it makes me sad.)


	3. Do I Wanna Know (If This Feeling Flows Both Ways)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter title comes from "Do I Wanna Know" by Arctic Monkeys. Although the whole fic (as far as I've written, anyway) is from Lio's POV, this line is from Galo's. A lot of the chapter titles are from Galo's POV, just for a little glimpse into how he's feeling about this whole thing.

The fresh air was good for helping Lio calm down, but not so much for clearing his thoughts. His head felt heavy and overstuffed, and being outside did little to remedy that.

At least the view was nice. On top of the settlement, overlooking the Waste, Lio could see for miles in any direction. He liked to be up high when he thought, because at least if his head couldn't reach a decision, his eyes were always scanning the horizon for threats.

"Wow. I've never noticed how hot it is out here," Galo remarked, breaking the silence. He squinted up at the sun high above them and tugged uncomfortably on his shirt collar. There was already sweat beading along his forehead. "I feel like I'm cooking."

Unbothered, Lio shrugged. He always felt perfectly comfortable with the temperature, be it summer in the afternoon or winter at midnight, regardless of what he was wearing at any given moment. "The Waste is hot," he said idly. "It's a desert."

Galo tilted his head thoughtfully. "Yeah, but we're not that far from Promepolis and it's never this hot in the city. I wonder why that is."

More questions, still no answers. Lio crinkled up his nose in distaste. His current theory was that Kray's infrastructure had brought greenery and rain back to the immediate area, and he was purposefully doing what he could to keep the land in the Waste from recovering after the Great World Blaze. But Lio couldn't prove any of that. And it wasn't like Kray was the only powerful anti-Burnish politician in the city. Plenty of others could be messing with the weather to make the Waste as unlivable as possible, to force Burnish to stay close to cities in order to survive and make it that much more likely to be captured.

"There are more pressing matters at hand." Lio turned away from Galo, swallowing a sigh. "What am I supposed to do with this information?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Galo shrug. It seemed that Galo had recovered from his emotional reaction earlier and was back to being unaffected. "I don't think it changes much," he said, nonplussed. "Either way, we have to stop Kray. It's just, y'know, now there are extra details."

What a stupidly simple way to look at things. Lio snorted and shook his head. "Like the fact that the voices I've been hearing are actual, sentient aliens. They're living creatures and I've been denying their needs." He clenched his fists in frustration. "Details like that, you mean?"

He still couldn't quite process that. The voices were as unphased as ever. Lio wondered if they could even tell what was going on. He prodded the warmth in the back of his thoughts idly, but the only thing that Lio ever got from them was _"burn, burn, burn!"_

Galo hummed, unbothered. He picked up a rock and chucked it off the side of the settlement. There were a lot of rocks laying around. A side effect of making a home in an abandoned highway construction project, Lio supposed. The rock fell so far to the earth below that Lio didn't see the dust that it kicked up when it made contact.

"What are they saying now?" Galo asked suddenly.

Lio blinked, pulling himself out of his idle thoughts to glance at Galo through a curtain of his green-blond hair. "What?" He asked eloquently.

"The voices. Your promare," he clarified, and Galo cranked his arm back to throw a second rock much harder than the first. "What are they saying? Or do they not speak constantly? Sorry, I don't know much about how that works."

At least he was making an effort to understand. Lio managed a smile and turned to face Galo fully. "It's pretty much constant. They're louder if I haven't had a good burn in a while." He let flames bloom over his fingertips, partly to demonstrate and partly because it felt relieving to do so. It was difficult to temper his flames most of the time, but if Lio was going to represent the Burnish as their leader, he couldn't go around lashing out or burning whatever he wanted. "Right now they just want to burn. As usual." Lio huffed.

Another rock was lobbed off the side of the roof and Galo grinned at him. "See, your flames are still on the same page! You're overthinking this, Lio. The end goal's still the same, just now we've got to adjust how we get there."

There was such a ridiculous oversimplification. Lio felt a rush of frustration. He had to bite back a remark about how at least he was _thinking_. That wasn't fair to Galo, Lio knew. He was just angry and confused and stressed. Maybe he should go find an abandoned building or a cactus to burn, to get it out of his system.

A little way in the distance, there was a flash of fire in the sky. Lio turned on a dime, body tensing as he sought out a target. Instead of a fleet of Freeze Force ships, Lio unclenched his fists in confusion as a small object trailing smoke fell out of the sky in a tight spiral. He watched it for a moment, eyebrow arched.

Next to him, Galo was following his gaze, squinting. "Is… Is that a drone?" He asked, and Lio froze.

"It better _not_ be," he hissed, mind racing as the little drone spiraled down, down, down.

Lio was always so careful when he returned to the settlement. He did loops, he backtracked, he would go in the wrong direction for _hours_ , and he always, _always_ made sure to watch his back and keep an eye on the sky. How could someone have followed them? They would have to relocate the settlement. Lio had a backup, of course, but it was nowhere near as spacious, nowhere near as perfectly tailored to their needs.

He grabbed Galo by the wrist and tugged him forward. "Come on. We need to go investigate." And in case this was something that Galo had played a part in, Lio wanted him nearby to be sure that he didn't try anything else while his people gathered their things and retreated.

But Galo didn't look like he knew what was going on. His face was creased with confusion and mild concern. "Uh, Lio, the stairs are back that way." He jerked his thumb in the direction they'd come from, eyeing the edge of the roof with apprehension.

"This is faster." Crossing to a gap in the safety railing, Lio dropped Galo's wrist and turned his back to him. "Alright. Get on."

Silence. A glance over his shoulder showed Galo staring at Lio incredulously. "Like… on your back? Piggyback style?"

Lio narrowed his eyes. "What else could I mean?" He asked impatiently. The drone had hit the ground and Lio could see a handful of his men, specks in the distance, going to collect it.

"Okay, yeah. Fair point. It's just that…" Galo gestured between them. "Not to be rude, but… am I even going to fit?"

He did _not_ have time for this. "Yes, now do it," Lio said in a warning tone.

"But—" Galo fumbled for the right words. "But you're so _small_."

"Galo! Just get on!" Lio snapped.

"Okay, okay! _Christ_." Despite his complaints, Galo obeyed, awkwardly placing his arms around Lio's neck and letting Lio take hold of the backs of his knees to lock him in.

Even though Lio had the raw strength to hold Galo up, he was right about their size difference. Galo was a big guy and about double Lio's width. Balancing him was a matter of sheer stubbornness.

"Alright." Lio took a deep breath and stepped toward the edge of the roof. Galo's hands scrambled for purchase on Lio's leather outfit. "Now I need you to _not_ let go." And he let them drop.

Not far — just for a second or two. Before Galo had time to tense up and probably choke Lio, he let the fire inside of him build and burst out through the bottoms of his feet, offering enough of a buffer to lower them safely to the ground. Lio couldn't fly very well without the use of his hands, but hovering was simple enough.

He landed elegantly and, as soon as his feet made contact with the ground, Galo promptly released his hold and fell off of Lio's back. He hit the ground flat on his ass, looking stunned with his ridiculous hair windswept. Lio was expecting Galo to have an adverse reaction, so he waited impatiently.

What Lio _wasn't_ expecting was for Galo to look up at him with his pupils blown wide and utter, awed, "Wow… Is there anything you _can't_ do?"

It had become alarmingly clear since the beginning of the day that Galo did not possess a filter, and Lio _hated_ it. He knew that he was powerful already, possibly the most powerful Burnish on the planet. But hearing Galo say it like _that_ , with his expression near-worshipful and his position at Lio's feet… _Fuck_ , this man was going to be the death of him.

Lio kept his expression stony and offered a hand to pull Galo up. "Oh, please. All I did was hover." He rolled his eyes, hefting Galo to his feet and letting go quickly. "You haven't seen me _really_ fly yet."

And he shouldn't have done that — used the word "yet," as if there was something between them. As if there was more to come. As if they would have more opportunities in the future for something casual. But the word made Galo's expression light up like a kid in a candy store, and Lio didn't have the heart to correct himself.

"Boss!" A voice interrupted them. Lio hoped the relief didn't show on his face.

He turned away from Galo to face the woman running toward them. Hannah had been on lookout duty last that Lio checked, so it wasn't surprising to see her. It was still _irritating_ to see the smoldering drone clasped in her hands. Behind her were two others assigned to watch the perimeter, Fret and Dimitri.

"We spotted it just a minute ago," Fret said as the three of them stopped in front of Lio. "Hannah shot it down. We don't think it's Freeze Force technology, but…"

Wordlessly, Lio held out his hands and the drone was placed in his arms. A good chunk was blown out of the side, leaving the parts near it charred and half-melted. Regardless, an emblem was still visible and had the shape of a rat's head. They were right — it didn't look to be Freeze Force, but Lio couldn't just take that risk. Whoever had sent out the drone knew where the settlement was, and that wasn't something that he could ignore.

As he examined the drone, Lio was painfully aware of Galo hovering just behind him, his chest bumping against Lio's elbow and every soft breath ruffling his hair. So when Galo suddenly let out a shout of surprise and jumped back, Lio fumbled so hard that he nearly dropped the drone.

"Oh!" He snapped his fingers. "I know where that's from!"

All four Burnish in the immediate area snapped their heads around to stare at him. Lio was pretty sure that he was the only one who _didn't_ consider torching Galo on the spot.

"You _what_?" Dimitri asked lowly, balling his hands into fists. He was abated by the hand that Lio held up, signaling him to hold back.

"Galo," Lio said in a much gentler voice than the situation called for, "explain why this drone was hovering around our settlement."

He knew it. He should have never trusted Galo. The ridiculous story about time travel should have tipped Lio off from the beginning! That shit about Kray's plans and him being Burnish was a _lie_ , those tears over that dead Burnish girl were _fake_ , and all the emotion and admiration he'd displayed for Lio were—!

"Hm? Oh." Galo blinked, apparently not noticing the hard look on Lio's face or his near-crushing grip on the drone. "I guess it happened when you "kidnapped" me. See, my co-worker Lucia does a lot of stuff with her own robotics and inventions. This is her symbol. So she probably had a drone trail you so that she could make sure that you didn't… I don't know, burn me and leave me in a ditch somewhere?" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, glancing between the four Burnish with a frown. "Sorry. Is that going to be a problem?"

Lio took a deep breath. His hands lit up pink-and-blue and he left the drone a melted husk at his feet, unsalvageable. "We have to assume that it was streaming live footage," he said, turning back to his three soldiers. "Hannah, locate Gueira and Meis. Tell them that I need to speak to them immediately. Dimitri, take over lookout duty. If _anything_ comes from Promepolis' direction, I want to know about it. Fret, gather the rest of the settlement in the main room. Tell them to pack their essentials only. We're going to be leaving within the hour." He got three crisp salutes and an echo of, _"Yes, boss!"_ before the three of them were running off to do as told.

And with them gone, that left Lio alone with Galo.

He took another measured breath. This wasn't Galo's fault. It was _hugely_ inconvenient, sure, but that was what Lio got for acting on a whim and breaking his own rules. No hostages, no acting without a plan. It was entirely on Lio for forgetting his priorities. The safety of the settlement _had_ to come first. These people relied on Lio to keep them safe, _they trusted him_. He wasn't going to make them regret it.

"Do you think your co-workers will alert Freeze Force?" Lio asked as he turned back to Galo.

He didn't get an answer immediately — probably because Galo was still processing that Lio _wasn't_ yelling at him. When he finally caught up, Galo shook his head, then paused. "Well— they _might_. But they _really_ don't get along with Freeze Force. Besides, I don't think they're dumb enough to try and attack a Burnish group. They heard your threat — they probably just wanted to make sure that I wasn't dead." Galo looked at him for a long moment. "What are you going to do now?"

And wasn't _that_ the million-dollar question? Lio pinched the bridge of his nose, not that it did much to ward off his upcoming headache. "I have a backup locale where the others will retreat to until further notice. Meanwhile, _we_ ," Lio ground out, "are going to stay here and wait for your rescue party."

* * *

"Absolutely fucking not! Boss, you _can't_ be serious!" Gueira slammed his fist down on the table and Lio met his glare patiently.

"I'm entirely serious," he said in a flat tone. Normally, that was enough to get Gueira to listen to him, but not today, apparently.

"Boss, this _reeks_ of a trap!" Gueira pressed. He came around the table to grab Lio by his upper arms, as if shaking him would get him to reconsider. "The others can go on ahead to our backup safehouse, but me and Meis should stay with you. You don't know anything about this guy, you have no way of knowing if his friends are gonna bring Freeze Force with them. This whole thing could be an elaborate setup!"

Lio sighed. He didn't push Gueira away, although being a hard ass about this would have been infinitely easier. But despite the fact that Lio was their boss, he was their friend first. Or, at least, he tried to be. "This scenario strikes me as a little too convoluted to be a setup. If Galo was planted in order to find our settlement, then they would have attacked us hours ago."

It was a good thing that Galo was waiting in the main room with the others. Although, Gueira was hardly being quiet. Lio thought, wearily, that at least he was planning on telling everyone this information anyway.

" _Still_ ," Gueira insisted. "Even if it wasn't a trap from the get-go, we can't just run away and let you potentially have to face Freeze Force. If you get captured, Boss—" He bit his lip and didn't finish.

"I wouldn't let myself get captured," Lio said, and he meant it. He was the most powerful Burnish he'd ever come across — he could give Freeze Force the slip, and had plenty of times in the past. They hadn't designed a ship yet that was fast enough to keep up with him. "But even if I do end up captured, you'll manage without me. You and Meis were leading the Mad Burnish before me and I have full confidence that you'll continue on my path if anything happens to me."

There was a chuckle from Meis, who had been silently leaning against the wall until that point. "We're not worried about the Mad Burnish," he said, pushing off of the wall to stand next to them. "We're worried about you, Lio. You're not _just_ our powerful and brilliant leader. You're our friend. And losing you to Freeze Force would be…" He clenched a trembling fist. "... _Horrible_."

Stunned, Lio didn't get the chance to answer. Gueira gave him a tight smile and added, "What? Did you think that we were being dramatic all those times we said that we'd protect you right to the end?"

Well, no. Not really. Sort of. Lio had been _hoping_ that it was just their usual dramatics, and _not_ his best friends professing to be willing to die for him.

He gave a thin smile. "I am your friend," Lio agreed, looking between Gueira and Meis, "but I'm also your boss, and right now, I need you to listen to my instructions. You need to leave with the others. Keep them safe."

He could handle being imprisoned and used for experiments. Lio would find a way to break out, he knew it. But he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to the settlement that he had poured his heart and soul into.

Gueira and Meis shared a _look_. Whatever conversation they were having, it was brief. Between the three of them, Lio was far and away the most stubborn.

"You get six hours once we reach the safehouse," Gueira said finally. "Any longer and we're coming back for you."

That was going to be a tight fit, but Lio could see when he was beaten. He conceded with a nod. "I'll send you a flare once I'm in range," he promised. His next words were cut off when Gueira suddenly scooped Lio into a hug, Meis wrapping his arms around both of them from the side.

It wasn't the easiest hug, given their height differences, but Lio didn't care. He forgot about their time crunch and every other crazy thing that had happened that day and squeezed his two best friends tightly.

"Everything will turn out fine," Lio said quietly, and he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or them. "We've come too far for it to end any other way."

A short nod. "We know," Meis muttered.

"Yeah. You're invincible, Lio," Gueira chimed in, his voice thick with emotion.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds, as long as Lio could bear. Then he pulled out of their embraces and set one hand on Meis' shoulder, the other on Gueira's. "And one last thing." He fixed them both with a serious look. "If — and that's a big _if_ — something does happen to me, I want you both to remember our vow. We aren't murderers. The Mad Burnish can't be led by killers."

He sounded like a hypocrite. Lio remembered what Galo had said, that he'd watched Lio raze the city with an enormous dragon and had nearly thrown away his sense of identity to try and kill Kray. He couldn't imagine being in so much pain that murder seemed viable — enjoyable, even. A part of Lio waited for Gueira or Meis to call him out on his hypocrisy, but neither of them did.

He got a snort from Gueira but, as often as Lio reminded them to hold back, that was typical. Meis' smile was more reassuring. "Of course, Boss," he agreed. "We promised you that we wouldn't kill anymore, and we meant it. Even if someone really, _really_ deserves it."

Lio scowled playfully but said nothing. He didn't want to drag out their argument longer than they already had. He gave them both little shoves toward the door, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm glad we came to an agreement. Now, we should get out there and address the others. They deserve to know what's going on."

When he left the room, Lio was greeted by the thirty-one Burnish who took orders from him suddenly snapping to attention as all conversation ceased, some nearly falling over themselves to get to their feet. In the corner, sitting on the ground and pouting like a kid placed in time out, Galo popped up with his endless energy and was immediately invading Lio's personal space again.

"Lio!" Galo somehow resisted the clear urge to grab him, although he shoved their faces so close that Lio leaned back on impulse to avoid getting smacked in the head. "Are you alright? I heard shouting. It wasn't anything I did, was it?"

The sentiment was endearing, much as Lio hated to admit it. He smiled placatingly. "It was a heated discussion, but being able to communicate openly with my generals is important." Lio nodded his head to the side. "Give me a moment, Galo. I need to address the others."

It was so difficult to talk to Galo sometimes. The week that they'd apparently spent together must have been a hell of a week, because Galo near-worshipped him, which Lio wasn't unfamiliar with, but Galo also treated him like he would anyone else. He disagreed with Lio, bickered with him, and never seemed to care about keeping up any sort of appearance. Every time Lio spoke, he second-guessed himself. Should he be speaking to Galo like a member of the community, or a subordinate, or a… friend, even?

But Galo only nodded, seeming sheepish. "Right, sorry," he said, backing up. Lio noticed him getting distrustful looks from some of the others, which was to be expected. At least Galo hadn't been set on fire.

With Meis and Gueira flanking him, Lio cleared his throat. He tried as often as possible to meet his people on even ground, to be an equal instead of a leader, but he wanted to do this quickly and efficiently.

"Our location has been compromised," Lio said, keeping it brief. There were a few murmurs of surprise, but mostly, Lio was met with stony stares. Most had inferred as much already. "All of you know where our safe house is. As we've previously established, you'll take your essentials and each head out in a different direction. Anyone not at the safehouse within two hours will be considered dead. I will stay here to intercept anyone who may or may not show up. Until my return, Gueira and Meis will assume co-leadership. I've full confidence that they'll both be able to lead you in my absence." The news that Lio would be staying was met with wide eyes and whispers, while Gueira grumbled at his side. Lio ignored him. He could see mouths already opening to ask questions and, much as Lio loved to indulge those most of the time, they couldn't keep standing around talking. He clapped his hands together to regain the room's attention, not that it was difficult. "We'll be having an in-depth meeting about today's developments once I've returned! For now, no questions. All of you know where you need to be. I don't want to see a single person in this settlement three minutes from now. Go!"

Their faith in him was touching, honestly. Lio got a few salutes, a few shouts of, _"yes, Boss!"_ but no one stopped to talk. The room had been cleared in ten seconds and Lio was sure that none of them would be lingering. He allowed himself to be fond for a moment. It was reassuring to know that no one was going to get hurt.

Except for himself, potentially. And Galo, definitely, if he turned out to be a liar.

"Guess that includes us, too," Gueira spoke up. He hadn't moved, although Meis was already halfway across the room.

Lio glanced at Gueira from the corner of his eye. "It does," he said mildly.

Hesitation. For a few seconds, no one moved. Then Gueira punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to make Lio stumble. "Six hours," he reminded Lio gruffly. "We're counting on you. It'd be fucking embarrassing if you let yourself get jumped by Freeze Force after you already knew they were going to show up. It'd be shameful for the Mad Burnish to be associated with you."

It hurt to smile, but Lio couldn't help it. "Then I suppose it's a good thing that I'm the most powerful Burnish alive."

"Damn right you are," Meis agreed. He walked back over to grab Gueira by the elbow, dragging him to the exit. "We'll see you at the safehouse, Boss. And pretty boy, too, if you don't end up castrating him."

A light flush danced across Lio's face. He sent a bolt of fire at their backs, but they'd already rounded the corner before it could make contact. _Pretty boy…_ As if.

And like that, they were alone again. Lio didn't turn to look at Galo, because he wasn't sure what he would say, but he felt Galo move to stand closer to him anyway.

"I like seeing you like that," Galo said, unprompted. "Actively being a leader, I mean. You can really tell how much you care about your people. It's really amazing how they look up to you." Lio chose that moment to face him, which was a mistake, because Galo got a full, unfiltered view of Lio's face when he opened his mouth and finished with, "You're incredible, Lio."

Heat prickled in the air between them. Lio's eyes widened. The way Galo was looking at him caused the fire in his chest to flare and made Lio feel light-headed. He was painfully aware of the distance between them. Too much. Not enough. He felt like he was suffocating. And now that Meis had mentioned it, Galo was sort of pretty, wasn't he? Galo's eyes dropped down to his lips, and—

Oh. _Oh_ , now that made sense. Lio cleared his throat and turned on his heel sharply. Galo jumped back like he'd just been burned and had the audacity to look scandalized. Like he hadn't known what he was doing when he was leaning in.

"Thank you," Lio said as calmly as he could manage it over his racing flame. "My people rely on me and I'd do anything for them. They're my first priority at all times." So Lio couldn't date anyone because romantic entanglements were distractions. Because he couldn't get attached and end up putting _one person_ over his community.

But _fuck_ , what had he done in the span of a week to make Galo _fall in love with him_? Lio was burning with curiosity. Adoration was easy. He'd earned Meis' and Gueira's respect without much effort, but this was so far beyond that. _Love_. Not just lust, which Lio was accustomed to getting. His mouth was dry and, in contrast, his hands felt clammy and sweaty in his leather gloves. What was he supposed to do with this information?

"I know. I mean, I know that _now_ ," Galo was saying, his voice pulling Lio's attention back to him before he could get too lost in his thoughts. "I just wish I'd figured that out about you sooner. Before…" He hesitated. "Well, I guess you don't remember it. Nevermind."

The lull in the conversation was long and awkward. Lio was so surprised that he forgot himself for a few moments. Their situation came back to him in bits and pieces, like waking up from a deep sleep, and Lio eventually pulled himself together enough to remember how to speak.

"Right. Well, we should go get in position." Lio started walking. Automatically, Galo followed. He hadn't even had to ask that time. "You'll be in full view from Promepolis' direction. The settlement should look abandoned, so whoever arrives hopefully won't destroy it. I'll be hidden nearby. On the slim chance that your friends arrive alone and don't bring Freeze Force…" He bit his lip thoughtfully. "What do you think are the odds that they could be potential allies?"

"Pretty good," Galo said without hesitation. "They never thought the Burnish were bad guys. It's just a mutation, you know? But they're firefighters so you're gonna need a _fantastic_ explanation for burning down buildings." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think that you ever gave me one, either."

Since they were already inside, Lio settled for taking the stairs down to the ground instead of flying. Although that would have been much cooler. The metal stairs were set-up with temporary fixtures along one of the main outside supports, so they weren't the sturdiest. When Lio found the place, some of the stairs had already fallen out of place and many more gave way due to rust and frequent use as time wore on. Sometimes they were replaced, but most of the time people explained by word of mouth that another stair had fallen through so everyone ought to be extra attentive on their next time down. Lio would be fine if he fell, but he kept one hand on Galo's arm and gave a tug to signify a wide gap or tightened his hold if it seemed like Galo was teetering.

"I don't burn buildings for fun. I've only been the leader of the Mad Burnish for nine months. In that time, we've gotten better about what we burn and when. The voices want to burn, and we need to satisfy them occasionally or risk losing control. I've organized raids for this purpose, where we burn abandoned areas or buildings that we've assured are empty. It's not ideal, but we can't burn forests or farmland. Buildings can be repaired much easier and faster, and have a less negative impact on the people in the area." Lio paused to drop down a few feet where some steps were missing, letting go of Galo to do so and impulsively grabbing his arm again once Galo had rejoined him. "The attack on Foresight Pharmaceuticals was for the express purpose of getting us arrested. We planned it down to the minute."

"Oh." Galo blinked and went quiet, digesting that information. "You know, I think it's really admirable of you. Trying to find a way to keep everyone happy, even non-Burnish. If you guys weren't hunted, I wonder if we could find a way to satisfy your burning urges without property damage. Like…" He made a grandiose gesture with his free hand. "Every night we have a big, community bonfire and get drunk. That'd be _awesome_."

Lio snorted on a laugh and quickly muffled it. "Innovative," he said with a nod. "One flaw with your plan for world peace, though. Burnish can't get drunk." He had tried enough alcohol to be certain of that.

"What? Are you serious?" Galo groaned. "Dude, that _sucks_! Alcohol does nothing for you guys?"

"Well…" Lio gave it some thought. "Under normal circumstances, no. It's just like drinking bleach with none of the fun parts. But since I joined up with Mad Burnish, Gueira showed me a trick of his. If you mix a Four Loko with a five-hour energy, it can get you pretty wasted. He drinks them like water. I don't have the strength for more than two. He calls them Nine Lokos."

The look on Galo's face was stunned and, Lio chose to interpret, maybe a little bit awed. "Lio. As a certified paramedic, I'm incredibly concerned for your kidneys and your heart. And the rest of your body, while we're at it."

Explaining to Galo that Burnish didn't have internal organs was more trouble than it was worth. Lio waved one hand dismissively as he dropped off the final step and onto solid ground. He let go of his grip on Galo because the contact was no longer needed. Not for any other reason. Just cut and dry.

"Burnish are built differently," was what Lio settled on. He turned toward Promepolis and spotted some rubble nearby that would make a good place to sit. "I'm capable of drinking responsibly. Now, come on. We have more important issues to contend with." He led Galo over to the overturned rubble and gestured. "Take a seat," Lio said.

Once Galo had gotten as comfortable as he could be, perched at the highest point like some sort of bird (an apt comparison, given his hairstyle), Lio sat on the ground behind him. Facing the settlement, he figured that he would be out of sight as long as no one approached with infrared glasses. Which they might, but Lio couldn't exactly turn off his body heat so this was the best he could do.

It was quiet for a minute while Galo continued to shift and move around. Eventually, he settled, only to sigh. "I'm sorry about all the hassle, Lio. I just didn't want to let the same thing happen all over again. It didn't go well the first time."

Lio sort of hummed. If Galo had simply experienced an incredibly lucid dream, well… Then that would be a hell of a coincidence. He'd guessed so many details correctly. The only way to find out for sure would be to confront Kray or to go to that lab beneath the frozen lake and meet the dead-scientist-turned-AI. Thinking about it too hard gave Lio a headache. This whole situation was _ridiculous…_ But better than letting everyone he cared about die.

"Your story is so ludicrous that it can only be true," Lio said finally. He closed his eyes. "I have very little doubts about your truthfulness, Galo. My biggest question right now is just how this happened, and why. How could you see a week into the future? And if what you went through actually happened, and this is a case of time travel, what would be capable of that? Why pick _you_?"

Galo didn't reply immediately. Then he said, "It couldn't've been time travel. I died." His voice was too soft. Lio went stiff and couldn't decide if he was grateful or not that he couldn't see Galo's face. "It definitely _felt_ like I died. My body just… melted."

Lio shuddered. He tried to think of something comforting to say, but eventually had to settle for, "A vision of the future, then." A pause. "That still doesn't explain why or how."

"I guess." Glancing up, Lio could see Galo frowning thoughtfully at the horizon. The sun high above them framed his face, making the edges soft, and Lio's chest was doing flips. "Do you believe in fate?"

The question was asked so suddenly that Lio nearly missed it. He took a moment to catch up, then another to process. Lio's face crinkled up. "...I don't know. Yesterday, I would have said no. But now I'm not sure," he said honestly.

What other explanation was there? Galo had apparently looked into the future and bent the laws of possibility, all to stop Lio from making a poor decision and, in the process, potentially dooming the world. It seemed abundantly clear to Lio that both of them dying was a mistake of some kind. A cosmological error. And what else was it that Galo said? Before "Lio" died, he had been trying to say something. Lio was kicking himself trying to imagine what it could have been. What would his last words be, if the only one there to hear them was Galo?

If they were fated to meet, to fight Kray together, then… Well, then Lio was going to have a lot to think about. But first things first: actually surviving what was coming.

Galo let out a soft noise and straightened. "Hey, I think I see another drone coming toward us." He got up off of the rock, but Lio didn't move. He held his breath, willing his body to cool down as if that would do anything. Another drone made sense, though — investigating the area before Galo's team came in themselves. And that wasn't Freeze Force's style at all, so Lio was crossing his fingers for a miracle.

"Don't speak to me anymore," Lio said sharply. "I don't know if that thing has a microphone or not. Don't acknowledge me." He didn't get an answer, which was hopefully Galo's way of abiding by his request.

The drone grew louder and louder until it peeked and seemed to die when it landed. Galo grunted with effort as he presumably lifted it up. "Lucia's handiwork again," he remarked aloud, to himself as far as untrained eyes could tell. "This one's heavy, shit…"

Only a few minutes more, then. Lio looked down at his hands clenched in his lap and forced himself to smooth them out. Galo's team would arrive to "rescue" him after he'd been seemingly abandoned by the Mad Burnish that kidnapped him. Then Lio would show himself and explain the situation. The idea was to gain some allies in the city. Lio would never turn down more help. He just hoped that he looked unassuming enough at first glance that they wouldn't start shooting at him. He could handle those little blasts from their ridiculous freeze guns easily, but it would certainly make it more difficult to fake being taken down in the future if Lio ever needed to use that strategy.

He took a deep breath. This was going to be hard, but doable. When it came to his fellow Burnish, Lio never considered failure a viable option. He was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for the Nine Loko idea goes to _[this incredible fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22538737)_. Please read it if you haven't already, it is one of the funniest fucking things I've seen in a long time.
> 
> * Explaining my Burnish headcanon at work here: since they don't bleed at any point and Lio's body appeared hollow when it was reforming itself during the CPR scene, I have the headcanon that Burnish bodies are basically just skin suits filled with fire. They eat to feed their organic parts, because they still grow and age (slowly), but the promare eats up any waste. Their need for water is lower than normal humans' but their need for food is greater (because being a living fire consumes a lot of calories). They can't get drunk because the promare burns the alcohol away.


	4. Why Put a New Address on the Same Old Loneliness (When Breathing Just Passes the Time)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, only a week between chapters? I'm spoiling you guys. I have to work a ten-hour shift tonight so if you have anything nice to say about this fic, that would be poggers. Comments keep the pain away.
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" by Fall Out Boy. It's sort of an angrier, more possessive/entitled take on unrequited love. Definitely has no relation to this fic, but I like that line and I'm the author, so I can name the chapters whatever I want.

The sound of rumbling engines reached Lio's ears slowly. He had gotten very skilled at attentive listening thanks to years on the run. He tilted his head thoughtfully. Based on how sound traveled out in the Waste… Two motorcycles, traveling about eighty-miles-an-hour, approaching from the direction of Promepolis. At least it wasn't a whole fleet. Lio could handle a couple of people, it was just a matter of doing it without making himself look threatening.

He heard Galo moving around, too, then he abandoned the drone he'd been holding to jump to his feet. "Hey, guys!" Lio could imagine Galo's energetic wave as he flagged his friends down. No doubt they couldn't hear him thanks to the distance and the roar of their engines, but that didn't stop Galo.

The engines grew louder and louder and louder — and then one stalled before switching off entirely and the other followed off. "Galo!" There was a feminine cry and the sound of what was unmistakably a crushing hug. Her voice was vaguely familiar to Lio, and he quickly connected it to the pink-haired pilot from the roof. Aina, Galo had called her. "We were so worried! Holy _shit_ , are you okay? What happened? How did you even—?"

"Damn, Aina, at least let him get back home and relax before you start the interrogation." A second woman's voice, more high-pitched than Aina's. Lucia, maybe? Lio didn't know how many women were on Galo's team. "He was _just_ kidnapped and held hostage. If that were me, I'd want a snack and a long nap."

"You always want a snack." A third person's voice — a man's. He'd been so quiet up until that point that Lio hadn't even heard him dismount his motorcycle. "Are you alright, Galo? You didn't get burned, did you?"

"No, I'm fine, guys. Promise," Galo said. He cleared his throat. "I wouldn't say that I was _kidnapped_ , exactly… And— you know, "hostage," is such an ugly word."

There was a long pause. Lio didn't need to know Galo's co-workers to know that they were staring at him incredulously. He rolled his eyes. _Oh, for fuck's sake…_ Well, Lio's plan was to end up talking to them, anyway. Now was as good a time as any.

He got to his feet and swung around the rubble that was blocking him from view. Maybe Lio should have made his movements more purposeful and loud because the three people standing in front of Galo just about jumped out of their skin when he suddenly came into their lines of sight.

Quickly, Lio scanned over them. Up close, he could see Aina's muscle more clearly. Built for endurance, but not strength or fighting. The large man next to her was the opposite, obviously a bodybuilder of some sort. Lio was willing to bet that his biceps were the width of Lio's entire body. Impressive. The third person was a short woman with blonde hair. Definitely not used to physical activity, but she was the first to recover from Lio's surprise and she had a look in her eyes that made Lio decidedly unnerved. Definitely not normal.

"I wouldn't call it kidnapping when he practically begged to come along," Lio said casually, leaning against the rubble. Anxiety was making his throat tight. He was skilled enough at keeping a poker face that he knew they wouldn't be able to tell, but Lio was on edge. He _needed_ this to go well.

Once she collected herself, Aina's hand went to the freeze gun attached to a holster on her hip. She didn't pull it, eyeing Lio warily. "Are you Burnish?" She asked, which was honestly a really stupid question. It occurred to Lio, though, that telling her so wouldn't go over very well.

"I am." Lio nodded and stole a look over at Galo, who was looking nervous enough for both of them.

" _Mad_ Burnish?" The short blonde pressed, similarly shifty-eyed and distrustful. At least she wasn't armed, although she was holding a device that looked like a hand-held game of some kind. Lio assumed that it was the remote for the drone.

Another nod. He wasn't sure which surprised them more — that Lio was Mad Burnish, or that he confirmed it for them. "Lio Fotia. I'm the leader of Mad Burnish, actually," he added, which was probably the wrong thing to say in front of Aina when she still had a hand on her gun.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. "You bastard—!" In one fluid motion, she drew her pistol, aimed it, and squeezed the trigger.

Which was about what Lio expected, considering that she'd been on the roof when Lio manhandled her friend and then was forced to let them get away with Galo. What Lio _wasn't_ expecting was the little motion that Galo made out of the corner of his eye.

Lio didn't think about it, he just moved. He stepped forward, into the shot, and with one hand shoved Galo to the side while he used the other to melt the ice bullet in mid-air. It happened in less than a second and, for several moments after that, Lio just stood there, staring at nothing.

Then it clicked and Lio whirled on Galo, punching him _hard_ in the arm.

"Ow! Hey, what the hell?" Galo rubbed where he'd been punched with a scowl, and the _audacity_ he had to act offended sent Lio's frustration through the roof.

"You deserved that!" He snapped. "You just tried to jump in front of that bullet, didn't you?" It wasn't a real question. Lio wasn't _stupid_ , and he had his fill of self-sacrificial idiots in the Mad Burnish already. He knew what it looked like.

Galo looked away, though didn't seem to have the good grace to pretend to be apologetic. "It was reflexive," he offered as if that made it any better.

" _Galo—_!" Lio felt like he was going to have an aneurysm. He had enough self-control to not start ripping his hair out, but it was a close thing. His voice dropped down to a lower volume, though his tone was no less heated. "Ice bullets _freeze_ ," Lio said through clenched teeth. "My body runs hot enough that they don't do any actual damage. Yours does not. That's a really great way to get yourself freezer burn or _worse_." Being frozen solid could still snap Burnish bodies into pieces. Lio couldn't imagine the horrific, bloody mess it would be for a normal person to succumb to that.

"I know that, I'm not stupid!" Galo said defensively, apparently taking issue with Lio's tone. "I've been trained with those weapons! I know everything about them."

"I can't imagine why you bothered to learn if you're not going to use that information to make good choices." Lio crossed his arms, unimpressed. "And just so we're on the same page, getting yourself shot is _never_ a good idea."

"I'm not apologizing for that." And, frustratingly, Galo really looked like he meant it, too. He met Lio's glare without faltering. As if Lio couldn't burn him to a crisp. As if Galo couldn't snap his spine cleanly. "I told you already that I'm not gonna let you die! I don't say shit that I don't mean, Lio."

Their argument was interrupted by the sound of crinkling paper. Lio froze in the middle of Galo's name, his hand knotted in the front of Galo's shirt, and he slowly turned to look over at the audience he'd forgotten about.

The blonde one (Lucia, probably), was casually unwrapping a sucker. She scrunched up the wrapper and dropped it on the ground, taking a long, purposeful lick while everyone else stared at her blankly. "Wow," she said finally, unphased. "I thought we were coming out here for a kidnapping, not a domestic dispute."

And just like that, Lio forgot being angry in favor of being embarrassed. He took a measured step away from Galo, because _wow_ , when had their faces gotten that close together? He cleared his throat and attempted to muster together what remained of his dignity. "I apologize for that. I didn't mean to lose my composure."

Another thing about Galo that absolutely drove him up the wall. Lio was always in control, always calm and level-headed. How did Galo rile him up so effortlessly? It was _infuriating_.

"Yeah. Galo's like that." Aina sighed. Begrudgingly, she sheathed her freeze gun and straightened up. "We've tried everything to drill into his skull that he can't be throwing himself directly in the path of danger, but he never listens."

"How do you think he got that arm sleeve?" The muscular man chimed in. "Our Captain once had to suspend him for a week because he ignored orders to pull a woman out of an automobile fire. Almost got himself crushed."

"Did not!" Galo said childishly. He flexed his arm and Lio was faintly amazed that the action didn't tear Galo's shirt. "I'm strong enough to handle a car! And if I hadn't, that woman would've died. A week off without pay was _so_ worth it."

The mental image of Galo lifting a burning car to rescue a woman pinned beneath was… _Fuck_. If Lio had been a lesser man, he would have succumbed to the urge to swoon, not unlike Aina. At least she had good taste, which Lio felt just about made up for the fact that she tried to shoot him in the face. As it was, Lio settled for a vague nod. It made sense now. Galo was very self-sacrificial by nature. His behavior didn't have anything to do with Lio. He told himself that was a good thing — as if maybe this "crush" nonsense would blow over if Lio didn't encourage it.

"Well, as entertaining as that story is, I think we have more important things to talk about." Lio held his hands up placatingly. "Yes, I'm the leader of Mad Burnish. No, I'm not going to turn myself in. Galo has spoken very positively about his co-workers at Burning Rescue. I was hoping to ask for your help."

Now that the attention was back on the real issue, Lio was getting skeptical looks again. " _Help_?" Aina seemed insulted by the idea. "You lead a group of terrorists! Do you expect us to help you burn down buildings?"

Lio and Galo shared a look. Slowly, Lio lowered his hands. "We could do introductions first?" Galo suggested.

That got him a _round_ of unimpressed stares, but then the muscular man sighed. "Varys Truss," he said.

"Lucia Fex," the blonde chimed in.

"Aina Ardebit. And we already know that you're Lio Fotia, so…" Aina gestured sarcastically. "Start talking."

Galo chuckled. Personally, Lio didn't blame him for not wanting to rehash the same thing a second time. "It's… kind of a long story," Galo said sheepishly.

It was quiet for a moment. Then Varys shifted and pulled a phone out of his pocket. He opened it and, presumably, checked the time. Lio knew that, this far out in the Waste, there was no hope of getting a signal. "Captain wants us back in two hours or he said he'd call in Freeze Force. He was hoping to resolve this without turning it into a whole raid." Varys put the phone away. "It's a forty-minute drive out here and back, so you've got about forty minutes to talk."

Lucia plopped down on the ground and slurped noisily from her sucker. "I'm all ears," she drawled.

"Um…" Lio considered it, looking between the three of them. Their reactions hadn't been overly reassuring but, well, he was being given a chance. And that was all he could ask for. He looked over at Galo, who shrugged. Lio sighed. "How much do you believe in the possibility of time travel?"

That got him more than one raised eyebrow. "... Go on," Aina said, arms crossed over her chest. Lio figured that was the best he was going to get, so he didn't squander the opportunity.

So they talked. And talked and talked and talked, with hardly an interruption from the Burning Rescue members. Lio and Galo went back and forth bouncing between what had happened that morning, explaining that the "kidnapping" had just been an amicable agreement that they reached to try and keep from being attacked. And once they got to the part about the Burnish being synced with fire-like alien lifeforms from a parallel universe, and Kray Foresight being Burnish, and the dead-man-turned-computer living in a secret bunker beneath a frozen lake, Galo took over for most of the explanation. Somehow, it all sounded even more ridiculous the second time around.

It didn't escape Lio's notice that Galo brushed over the incident with Kray without providing hardly any details at all, but he didn't call attention to it. If Galo wasn't ready to bring it all up again, then Lio wouldn't force him to.

"Any questions?" Lio asked when they were done. At some point, Lucia had forgotten about the candy she was eating, Aina's jaw had forgotten how to close, and Varys had needed to take a seat. All in all, they weren't promising reactions.

"Right now? No," Lucia said at last. She sighed in a way that seemed to use her entire body. "But in about two weeks when I've finally processed all of that, I think I'm going to have about, oh, a couple hundred."

"You guys know how ridiculous this all sounds, don't you?" Aina asked, setting a hand on her head. She looked a little faint. "I mean, aliens and time travel… It sounds like a script for a bad sci-fi drama."

Lio huffed. "A rushed one, at any rate."

"I know it sounds dumb," Galo cut in, "but it's all completely how I remember it. If you want proof, well… It's like I told Lio. We can all go check out that frozen lake and meet Dr. Prometh in person. He could probably give a better description of what's going on, anyway."

Ideally, he would even have an explanation for Galo's inexplicable time travel. Kind of a long shot, Lio knew, but _fuck_ , everything else was already so goddamn weird. Why not?

Silence. Varys stuck out a hand and Lucia slipped him a sucker. While he unwrapped it, she got up and went to collect her drone from where Galo had left it near the rocks. "You said you wanted help," Varys said, pointing at Lio with the sucker before putting it in his mouth. "Help with what, exactly?"

That was a good sign, right? That he was showing interest? Lio held himself up straighter. "If we're going to take down Kray Foresight, I'll be honest, having every possible resource available to us would be a huge help. I understand that it's not my place to ask you to fight, but if you have any supplies to spare—"

"Are you kidding?" Aina snorted. "You just got done saying that the whole world is at risk, and you think we're _not_ going to want to fight? Uh-uh. Count us in."

"I'm still a little skeptical, but if everything that you've said is true, then I'm with Aina," Varys agreed. "And if nothing else, you can use our Burning Rescue station as a go-to when you're in the city. Once we get the Captain and Remi on board, anyway."

"I bet I could have some tech ready in a few days that covers your heat signature if you want," Lucia offered as she set her drone carefully in the bottom of Varys' sidecar. "This is a lot better than having to work with Freeze Force. If it hadn't been for that stealth drone that you guys knocked out of the sky, I never would have been able to talk the Captain out of telling those assholes what was going on." She huffed, reaching for a second piece of candy since the first had been abandoned. "Honestly… A little kidnapping is nothing we need to bring in the government for! We protect our own."

Lio felt a surge of fondness and couldn't help but sigh. In an odd sort of way, he felt like an outsider despite the fact that they were all speaking directly to him. They were like Galo — kind and willing to help without much thought. Altruistics, to be sure. He could see why they all worked so well together, how they were already so close despite Galo still being a rookie. They were the sort of people that just sort of attracted each other.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Galo elbowing him gently in the side. Lio must not have been doing a good job of keeping his expression neutral, because Galo was looking at him smugly. Despite the " _I told you so,"_ on his face, his smile was genuine and brighter than the sun. "What kind of supplies do you need, Lio?"

"Hm? Oh, I—" Lio fumbled over his words for a moment, trying to pull his thoughts back into something coherent. "Our settlement has thirty-four people, including myself, so I could do with food, water… Food is the more immediate need. Material things like blankets or clothes are always welcome. And—" He made little sparks with the tips of his fingers for effects. "I know it sounds a bit odd, but something to burn. Anything. Stacks of paper, pieces of firewood, junk that you don't use anymore… Having something to burn is good as a stress reliever. It keeps the voices quiet." And it was hard enough to think as it was. Lio's head felt so full, he was going to need a good burn sometime soon or he was going to go crazy.

"Done!" Galo pumped his fist enthusiastically and slung an arm around Lio's shoulders. "Say no more, Lio! I'll get you those supplies myself, if I have to! Nothing gets my soul burning like helping to save lives."

While Lio was still reeling from the heaviness of Galo's presence (his loud voice, the casual affection, his endless declarations of loyalty), Aina just sighed. She walked up and flicked Galo on the nose. "You don't have to do any of that by yourself, idiot. I swear, you've been working with us for months and sometimes it's like you still don't understand what "team" means."

Galo made an affronted noise, batting her hand away. That meant that he took the arm off of Lio's shoulders, too, and Lio wasn't sure if he liked that or not. "Hey! I seem to remember us working pretty well as a team together when we—" He stopped abruptly, his smile gone in an instant. "Right. You, uh, wouldn't remember that. My bad."

That could have easily made the conversation awkward, but that mishap was neatly avoided when Varys abruptly picked himself up from the ground and walked over to them. "Team means," he began, "that we stick by each other, even when we're dealing with aliens from parallel dimensions and authority figures committing human rights violations and the fate of the world." He put an arm around Galo, dragging him into a headlock and grinding his knuckles into the top of Galo's head. It completely decimated his carefully styled hair, and Galo squacked indignantly while Lio tried not to laugh. Aina had no such reservations. "Think you can get that through that thick skull of yours, rookie? We're not letting you do this on your own."

"Well, not if we leave soon, anyway," Lucia supplied helpfully from where she was leading against the sidecar. "If we don't get back to base in under an hour, Captain's gonna have to call in Freeze Force. And no one wants to see that happen."

Once Galo managed to get himself free of Varys' headlock, he was immediately fussing over getting his hair to stand up in points again. "Oh, right," he said idly, like he hadn't really heard her. "I guess we should get going. Lio, you—" His hands fell away from his hair and Galo turned to Lio like he had just realized something incredible. "You have to go back to your people."

"Yes." Lio arched an eyebrow, hoping it looked more amused than pained. "Otherwise they might launch an assault on the nearest Freeze Force base, and that isn't a mess that I feel like walking into."

"But I…" Galo glanced over at his co-workers and his face colored. "I mean, not that I can't go without you— And obviously you probably don't wanna carry me around everywhere, I just— With everything that's been going on, I was _hoping…_ " He trailed off with a wince.

Christ, it had barely been a day and Galo was already making him weak. Lio's expression softened. Taking pity on Galo, he said, "Well, I still need to go grab my bag. Do you want to come with me?"

Stupid. Lio was kicking himself as soon as he said it. He knew how Galo felt about him, and it was stupid of Lio to encourage that when they barely knew each other and there was already so much going on. But he could see that Galo had something to say that he didn't want to say around his co-workers. And, honestly, Lio didn't want to say goodbye to him, either. He couldn't put a finger on why. Maybe he really was that easy, or maybe Galo was just the right assortment of personality traits to knock down all of Lio's walls.

"Sure!" Galo caught himself and said again, with less excitement than before, "I mean, uh… Yeah, sure. Whatever. That'd be… cool."

Lucia snorted. Something about the noise made Lio struggle not to blush. "You guys are just _embarrassing_." She propped her chin on her elbow, looking unimpressed. "We've got about ten minutes before time becomes a real concern, though, so… Don't go _too_ crazy, kids."

"We're just gonna go get his things!" Galo said defensively, backing up to follow after Lio, who had already started walking. "It'll just take a minute!"

"And why does he need your help for that?" Varys called after them.

"Ah, too far away, can't hear you!" Galo shouted back over his shoulder. The tips of his ears were burning as his friends' laughter carried behind them. Lio hid a smile behind his hand. When he turned back to face him, Galo was beaming. In a softer voice, he said to Lio, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Lio asked, still biting back a smile.

"Hide it when you smile or laugh," Galo clarified, and Lio felt the remnants of his joking mood vanish in an instant. "I mean… Are you insecure about it or something? You don't have to be, if you are. You, uh— That is to say, I think your smile is nice, and laughter really suits you, so I don't know why you don't… do it more…?" He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he trailed off, leaving the question open-ended. "Sorry, does that sound weird?"

"A little." Instead of answering — because Lio didn't have an answer (not a _good one_ , anyway) — he stopped at the base of the stairs that would take them back to the settlement and pointed up. "Do you want to take the stairs, or see if I can fly us both?" He'd managed to carry Galo and fly with his armor on, so it couldn't be _that_ difficult, but he still asked because…

"Flying would be faster," Galo said. He made no effort to climb onto Lio's back.

Lio nodded once. "Yes."

A pause. Galo cleared his throat. "But I mean, we do have ten minutes, so—"

"The stairs, then?"

"Yeah. Good plan. I love stairs."

Galo pulled himself up the first bit and then offered Lio his hand. He didn't need it, but Lio took it anyway. Holding Galo's hand the whole way up was impractical, but if Lio had to guide Galo with a hand on his shoulder or forearm or wrist, then what other choice did he have? He wasn't going to let Galo fall. And if his touches lingered or Lio squeezed a little harder than strictly necessary, then neither of them commented on it. They didn't say a word to each other the whole way up.

At the top, though, Lio sighed. He led Galo down the familiar path to where he slept and said, "Your friends seem nice. I'm glad you have them."

"I know, they're really— Wait." Galo paused and almost stopped walking, only to hurry to keep up after Lio's long strides. "Do you mean that you didn't think I had any friends? Do I seem like a friendless sort of guy? Because I'm totally not, I—"

"Galo." Lio was entirely unable to keep the fondness out of his voice and he hated it. He was just glad that Galo was behind him, so he couldn't see Lio's smile. "I just meant that… Well, after what you told me about your relationship with Kray, I'm glad that you found support in a group of friends. They seem to really care about you and it's a relief to know that you have something like that."

It took him longer than it should have for Lio to realize that Galo's footsteps had stopped. He turned around and saw Galo standing a few feet back, his expression unreadable. "I didn't tell her."

Lio blinked, expression furrowing in confusion. "Galo? What are you talking about?" His friends? They had told all of the important parts. If Galo didn't want to bring up something as personal as Kray, then that was _fine_ , he didn't have to.

"Aina's sister, she— Oh, shit." Galo held his head in his hands, gripping his hair with frustration. "Her sister is the lead researcher on the Parnassus project. And I completely forgot to tell Aina! Oh, she's gonna be devastated. I can't believe it just slipped my mind like that!"

So Galo's friend was the sister of someone working on Kray's plan to destroy the world? That would have been useful information to tell back when Meis and Gueira were still around. Lio was annoyed for all of two seconds before something else occurred to him. Something that didn't add up.

"Hold on." Lio walked back over to Galo, closing the distance between them. The sound of his voice seemed to have calmed Galo's panicked rambling, which was… Yeah. Something that Lio didn't have time to think too much about at the moment. "Galo, were is this coming from? Are you…?" Lio set a hand on Galo's arm, trying to be comforting even as his eyes narrowed in accusation. "Are you just trying to change the subject?"

Galo blanched. "What? No, definitely not! I just— Okay, well, you mentioned Kray, and then I started thinking of this conversation I had with Aina's sister, and then I remembered—"

"What conversation?" Lio cut him off. Much as he wanted to be polite, they were still on a time crunch and Lio could tell when someone was stalling.

"What?" Galo blinked down at him owlishly. When it became clear that Lio wasn't going to just let it go, he sighed and looked away, squirming uncomfortably. "... I told you that Kray threw me in jail, right?"

"You mentioned that, yes." Lio nodded. His hand was still on Galo's arm. He didn't feel the urge to remove it.

"Okay, well… I was in there for a week or so, I think. And the whole time, no one came to see me. Sometimes guards passed or would stop to feed me, but they never spoke. No matter how much I shouted at them or threatened them." Galo looked annoyed for a moment, then remembered himself. "Except, on my last night in there, Aina's sister came to see me. Heris. I still don't really know why. Maybe she felt guilty?" He shrugged with one shoulder. "She gave me a pretty decent-looking meal and told me to eat it, 'cause it was going to be my last one."

Lio's breath caught. "You mean, they were going to—?"

"Going to execute me?" Galo seemed amused by that, for some reason, which just made Lio want to smack him until he learned some _goddamn self-preservation_. "No, I don't think so. But they were gonna launch the Parnassus that night, so I guess everyone they had in cells was going to end up starving without anyone to bring them food."

Somehow, that was worse. Lio made a face. "That's horrible," he said. He really should lift his hand off of Galo's arm. But it seemed like it was comforting so, instead, Lio stepped closer and moved his hand to Galo's shoulder.

"Yeah. I guess." The smile that Galo gave him was strained. "But anyway, Heris came to talk to me. I said something about feeling abandoned by Kray, and she…" He hesitated. Lio squeezed his shoulder, urging him to continue. Galo did, albeit slowly. "She said that I wasn't abandoned because I was never on the passenger list for the Parnassus. Because Kray never really cared about me at all, so how could he have betrayed me? And she was right, obviously. Looking back, I don't know how I didn't understand as soon as I saw the ship and figured that there was a reason Kray'd never told me about it until a week before launch. It just didn't click at the time. I didn't want to accept it." He huffed. "It took me another week in isolation and someone else spelling it out for me to get that Kray never gave a shit. And now I…"

Abruptly, Lio dropped his hand. Not because he didn't like the contact, but because he was worried that Galo could feel him heating up. "Now you what?" He pressed.

And for the first time since they'd met that morning, Galo looked completely and utterly _lost_. His mouth worked a few times, the words unable to come to him, until he eventually managed, "I… I don't know," he muttered. "For half my life, I just about worshipped the ground that he walked on. Kray was the closest thing I had to a dad for years. And he…" Galo winced. "He couldn't even be bothered to kill me himself when I made myself an inconvenience. He just had his soldiers drag me off to a cage and forgot about me."

Galo sniffled, and Lio felt such a sharp, sudden rush of _hatred_ that he had to remind himself what a horrible idea it was to raid the city in an attempt to kill Kray Foresight.

Because— Because, _that was the thing_. To some extent, Lio understood Kray's motivations. He was trying to leave the planet to preserve the human race, and the Burnish happened to be the only _feasible_ way for him to do that. Kray wasn't killing Lio's people because he _enjoyed_ genocide or something. It was just a means to an end for him.

But this? This was _personal_. Kray knew that Galo idolized him, and he didn't care. He made sure that Galo knew how _little_ he cared. He went _out of his way_ to _explain_ to Galo _just how little_ he cared.

Then the anger was gone, as quickly as it had come. Lio breathed out smoke to calm his inner fire and, before Galo could question it, Lio wrapped his arms around him and drew him into a hug. Now wasn't the time for him to work himself up into a righteous storm. This wasn't about Lio. Right now, Galo didn't need a dragon. He needed a friend.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Lio said quietly, and the force that Galo used to hug him back took his breath away.

It was quiet between them while Galo pulled himself together. In his head, Lio was kicking himself. This was such bad timing for a heartfelt moment… He felt like an asshole, getting ready to leave after Galo opened himself up like that, but they were both on a time crunch. He made a mental note to sit down with Galo sometime when the world wasn't in danger and their friends weren't waiting on them, and _talk_. Just talk about everything.

Only a few hours, and Galo had managed to whittle down Lio's resistance. Whatever happened to "not promising him a future," Lio wasn't sure. In a weary sort of way, he didn't care. He should have known the moment that Galo embraced him in that alley and started crying into his hair that they were in this for the long haul, together, for better or worse.

Gradually, Galo pulled back. He didn't look much better, but at least he wasn't crying. "Thanks," he said in an entirely too-soft tone that didn't suit him at all. "We should go get your stuff before they start to question what's taking us so long."

Lio wanted so badly to say, " _they can wait,"_ but they really couldn't. Not today. So instead he just smiled, a genuine one that he didn't try to cover up. "Anytime."

Instead of a private bedroom, Lio had a small room with an assortment of pillows and old mattresses and other soft surfaces that he shared with his generals. Well, those who didn't mind, anyway. Some of them liked having privacy — Meis had a small room for himself with an assortment of vanity items he'd stolen and kept with him over the years, but he slept with Lio and Gueira in a pile of limbs because none of them slept very well when they were alone. Lio was a painfully light sleeper, so sleeping in a group wasn't always conducive to staying asleep at night, but he was willing to take that trade-off. If something happened, he wanted to be right near the people that mattered to him.

He left Galo in the doorway of the community bedroom (literally, a bed _room_ since the whole floor was open season for sleeping) and crossed to the back corner. Lio grabbed the bag that he kept packed in case he needed to leave. It held everything of value to him — just a few different outfits and some assorted jewelry that Lio had managed to come by in one way or the other during all the time he had spent traveling alone. He turned to leave, then caught himself mid-turn and swooped back down to pick up something he'd nearly forgotten.

"A candle?" Galo asked as Lio walked back over to him, shoving the half-melted candlestick into his bag. "What do you need a candle for?"

There was an instinctive moment of hesitation. But considering that Galo had cried on him twice now, Lio saw no reason to withhold such trivial information. "I use it to meditate. I find it easier to focus my breathing and my thoughts if something else is keeping the fire going." His face colored faintly. "And it smells nice."

Galo laughed. He had such a good laugh. "You meditate? I tried doing that a few years back, but I was always really bad at sitting still for long periods of time." He had stopped trailing behind Lio and was walking side-by-side as they made their way back.

"You don't say?" Lio drawled, only being semi-sarcastic.

With a mock noise of offense, Galo elbowed him. "Contain your surprise." He rolled his eyes. "But no, seriously. I do hot yoga to clear my head sometimes instead. Or go to the gym and hit the weights. Or go on a drive with my bike. You're not supposed to exercise too much, you know? It's bad for your muscles to not have a break."

"Yes, I've heard that." Lio eyed Galo out of the corner of his eye and tried not to think too much about Galo's flexibility, or what he looked like in yoga pants. For fuck's sake, his shirt was already so tight that it should be _illegal_. It had to be breaking some sort of public indecency law, right? "Maybe we could do yoga together sometime," he offered, and only sort of regretted it after.

"You mean it?" And if Lio offering to be his shoulder to cry on and then proposing a yoga date hadn't been enough of a clue, then the way that Galo smiled at him solidified it. Internally, Lio just sighed. Yeah. He was already in _deep_ with this idiot. "That'd be really cool, Lio. I look forward to it."

Unfortunately, at that moment they reached the top of the stairs. Lio glanced over the edge, at the distance to the ground, and then back to Galo. He gave a wry smile and turned, offering his back. "Much as I love our conversations, we should probably hurry up. I think we've taken long enough already and I don't want to push it and have your friends trying to shoot me again." And because they really needed to cut this short before Lio dug himself any deeper.

Not that he thought there was something wrong with having close relationships, platonic or otherwise, but Lio would like to wait until he was sure that they'd both be alive next week to end up getting attached. Because Galo dying was still a very real possibility and Lio wasn't comfortable with how uneasy the thought already made him.

This time, Galo got onto his back without complaining about it first. Lio gripped his thighs, holding him in place. "Hey, only Aina shot you. One out of five isn't _that_ bad, right?"

Lio huffed on a laugh and stepped over the edge. He let them fall for longer this time before catching them with his flames. When he let Galo down, he didn't stumble.

"Well, I should get going." Lio held out a hand to form Detroit, adjusting the strap of his bag with the other. "For tomorrow, do you think your friends will want to meet up tomorrow to discuss what we plan to do? We can use this place as a reference, but I have a secondary location that we can use to meet up or leave supply drops and notes for each other."

Galo nodded, not looking at him. He was watching Detroit slowly take shape, only barely managing not to drool. Unable to help himself, Lio hid a small smirk in the curve of his shoulder and purposefully dragged it out.

When he finally finished making his construct, Galo's eyes flickered back to him. "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll make sure to bring our team captain next time," he said, and Lio wanted to ask if Galo had even heard what he said. Then something occurred to Galo and he asked, "Wait, you don't want to come and say goodbye to the others?"

He glanced at the Burning Rescue members over Galo's shoulder, still where they'd been left. Lucia had already gotten into Varys' sidecar and the two of them were talking about something animatedly. Aina was leaning against her bike with a scowl on her face.

When she caught Lio looking, Aina made an " _I'm watching you"_ gesture. Considering two important facts — the first being that she wasn't stupid, and the second being that she hadn't joined Lucia and Varys in teasing Galo — Lio felt it safe to assume that Aina didn't approve of Galo having a crush on a terrorist with a penchant for arson. Which was fair. If Lio _cared_ about her opinion on their non-existent love life, he might have said something about "winning her over" or "proving that he would treat Galo right," but…

Yeah. Fuck that. Lio didn't have the time or the patience to entertain everyone else's assumptions about his and Galo's relationship.

He gave Galo a warm smile instead and watched Galo's confusion melt into fondness. _Christ_ , Galo was just too easy. "No, but tell them that it was nice meeting them. I'll see you here tomorrow, Galo. Let's say noon."

Lio swung a leg over Detroit and was ready to take off when Galo suddenly grabbed him by the upper arm. "Wait." He leaned in, staring at Lio with sudden intensity. "Promise me that you'll be careful."

" _What_?" Lio arched an eyebrow, amused. "What for?"

"I just—" Galo's grip loosened. "I know I have to, I just hate to leave you right now. I promised myself that you wouldn't die again, Lio. I know you like to get all high and mighty about being self-sacrificial, but you're worse than I am and you know it. So promise that you'll take care of yourself."

And just like that, there went Lio's defenses. _Again_. His expression softened, even if Lio couldn't help being a little exasperated. Maybe Galo wasn't the only one who was easy. "I promise," he said, and he meant it. Lio set a hand over Galo's, giving it a squeeze, then removed the touch from his body. "Goodbye, Galo."

Taking the hint, Galo stepped back and gave a short wave. "See you later, Lio," he echoed. If he said anything else, then it was lost in the roar of the engine when Lio shot forward.

He couldn't help but be a little grateful that Detroit didn't have rearview mirrors. Otherwise, Lio might have given in to the temptation to keep staring behind him until Galo was nothing more than a dot on the horizon. (And if he did that, then Lio _might_ have been enticed to turn around.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * That bit about Lucia riding in Varys' sidecar is canon according to the English script of the movie.
> 
> ** The part about what Heris says to Galo is also in the English script, although it was removed from the movie's final cut. Consider it an extended scene. In the script, the dialogue goes like this:
> 
> _HERIS: I don't have any more time to bother with you. Externally, you're labeled as a terrorist who was conspiring with the Mad Burnish._   
>  _GALO: So I've been abandoned completely._   
>  _HERIS: By Kray?_   
>  _GALO: Yeah._
> 
> [dialogue continues as seen in the movie]
> 
> Heris ignores him and tries to leave.  
>  _GALO: Hey!_  
>  Heris gets annoyed with Galo's persistence.  
>  _HERIS: It's not that you were abandoned by Kray._  
>  _GALO: What?_  
>  _HERIS: You were never on the migrant list. He didn't care for you from the beginning._  
>  _GALO: ...You're lying._  
>  _HERIS: I'm not. You don't know anything, even about yourself. How dare you try and lecture me. Don't make me laugh._  
>  With a parting shot, Heris leaves.
> 
> I got the Promare collectors' box set for Christmas, which came with the English script, and I am so glad that I did because it was an amazing investment. Highly recommend it for fanfiction writers, the references are a godsend.


	5. Just Something I Can Turn To, Somebody I Can Miss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a chapter where Lio catches up with his boys and the rest of the settlement. It was going to be part of the last chapter, but that one got too long. So this is more of a micro-chapter/intermission. No new developments here, just hashing out feelings. The next one will get back to the normal chapter length and refocus on the plot.
> 
> I hope you guys like Meis and Gueira being bastards.
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Something Just Like This" by Coldplay. I vibe with it as Lio and Galo post-movie. After all the drama, they just want to be able to be together casually. Or something like that.

As promised, Lio sent a flare up into the sky when he approached the safehouse. Although, "safehouse" was a strong word for it. In actuality, it was just a cave located in the side of a budding volcano at the very edge of the Waste. They'd carved it out some, opening it up and connecting different pockets, but it was a far cry from the comforts they'd managed to scrounge together back at the settlement.

Behind the young volcano, rolling fields faded from sand into dry grass. Lio knew that if he kept heading in that direction, the grass would grow greener and greener and eventually give way to a lake. How big it was, Lio couldn't say. He had never been all the way around it. Lio stared that way longingly for a minute, then directed Detroit to where he knew the opening of the safehouse was and gunned it.

By the time he got there, Gueira and Meis were already waiting in the mouth of the cave. Lio stepped off of Detroit, dismissing it with a wave of his hand, and almost immediately had his arms full as his generals embraced him.

"Good to see you, Boss," Meis said. He gave a squeeze before pulling back.

Gueira followed suit, albeit grudgingly. "Not that we were worried," he said with a tight voice as he wiped furiously at his eyes. "I knew there was nothing to be concerned about! Not that it kept Meis from crying like a baby the whole time."

Shooting Meis an amused look, Lio started walking toward the cave. "Well, I'm glad that you didn't waste the hours here by worrying. Nothing went wrong. As a matter of fact, I'd venture so far as to say that we've gained a few new allies."

"That's a relief." Meis lingered outside to look around questioningly. "You didn't bring that firefighter with you?"

Lio paused with his foot in the entrance. "His name is Galo Thymos, firstly," Lio said carefully, "and _secondly_ , no. His friends were adamant that he return with them and I didn't see any reason to keep dragging him around with me. He's already told us everything that he knows." Well, he'd told _Lio_ just about everything. Not that Meis and Gueira needed to know about the things that Galo had said when the two of them were alone.

Snickering, Gueira slung an arm around Lio's shoulders. "Really? _No_ reason?" He snorted. "Between you and me, Boss, I think the way that shirt hugged his chest was _more_ than enough of a reason to—"

"Gueira!" Lio cut him off with his face burning, wrenching out of the deceptively friendly arm draped across his shoulders. "We're not talking about this. There are more pressing matters to deal with." Lio arched an eyebrow. "Like the _fate of the world_."

"Alright, I get it." Gueira held his hands up in surrender. "All I'm saying is… That's one lucky fucking t-shirt."

Standing next to him, Meis nodded. "Luckiest t-shirt in the whole world," he echoed.

"I'd _pay_ to be that t-shirt," Gueira said wistfully.

Closing his eyes, Lio took a deep breath and prayed for patience. " _Anyway_ ," he said through clenched teeth, turning to enter the cave, "did you tell the others about the information Galo gave us?"

Meis shook his head, falling into step next to Lio. "No, we figured we would leave that until you got back. Did you learn anything useful from Galo's co-workers?"

He was about to say _"no,"_ then Lio thought about it and admitted, "Well, one of them has a sister who's the lead scientist on Kray's Parnassus project. But collectively, they weren't very knowledgeable about what's been going on." Not that Lio had expected them to be, in fairness.

"Well, damn." Gueira blinked. "That's a really useful connection to have. Think we can use that?"

Based on what little Galo had said about Heris, Lio honestly wasn't sure. She didn't seem like a very empathetic person, but she could have said those things to him because she was angry or they were arguing. Galo had been very light on the details. "I'm not sure. I think that's something we'll have to ask her sister, see what she thinks," Lio said.

The curving entrance to the cave opened up into a wide cavern, big enough to comfortably fit fifty people. There was a fire pit in the middle, casting light around the area. Several other narrow tunnels, painstakingly carved out by Lio and the rest of the Mad Burnish, stretched off of the main room and into about a dozen other smaller ones.

There were only a few people sitting around the fire, and when Lio walked in, all of them jumped up to greet him, looking relieved. "Boss. It's good to see you made it back," Hiroshi said, placing both hands on Lio's shoulders and giving a squeeze before letting them fall away. "Freeze Force give you any trouble?"

"No, no trouble," Lio assured him. He gave Ramona a hug, then shared a fist bump with Gwen. It was good to see that all five of his generals were waiting on him — they must have sent the others to rest or otherwise stay out of sight. Just in case. "I'll tell all of you at the same time. Gwen, Hiroshi, can you go gather the others?" Once they'd nodded and run off down the nearest tunnels, Lio turned to Ramona with a sheepish smile. "And do we have any food to spare?"

That got him an exasperated look. Ramona sighed, cupping her chin. "I swear," she muttered, "what are we going to do with you, Boss?"

Complaints aside, a few minutes later and Lio found himself sitting on a rock at the head of the fire pit, elevating him above the others gathered around to listen. He had a can of only-slightly-burnt beans opened in one hand and was shoveling it into his mouth with the other. Lio had accepted the food only after Gueira and Meis assured him that the others had eaten their portion of their backup rations already. He finished off the beans as the last of the stragglers took their seats on the ground. Eating with his hands wasn't the most _refined_ behavior in the world, but Lio didn't have time to eat daintily when he was hungry _and_ busy.

When he was done with the can, Lio crushed it and burned it. The last of the food waste burnt off and the can melted and hardened into a lump of tin. He tossed it aside and set his hands on fire to clean them, too, before pulling his gloves back on and folding his hands over his lap neatly.

"This morning," Lio began, "myself, along with Gueira and Meis, left for an important mission. Since it obviously didn't go to plan, I'll tell you all what we were doing. Using a coordinated attack on one of Kray Foresight's skyscrapers, we were planning to let ourselves be arrested and hauled off to his isolated prison in the north with the intention of staging a break out. We were interrupted by a man named Galo Thymos, the non-Burnish that I brought back to our settlement with me." Lio saw a few nods going around. So far, so good. This was the ridiculous part. He couldn't help but smile. "Galo told me that he was from the future."

As expected, that got Lio a mixture of laughter and disbelief. There was a mutter of " _Seriously?"_ followed by, " _And the boss still brought him here?"_ and several more statements along a similar vein until Lio held up a hand, asking for their patience and their silence.

"I know. I was skeptical of his claims, but that doesn't explain how Galo knew my name and my face, or that I was the leader of the Mad Burnish. He knew which building we were going to burn down, something that I didn't even tell the rest of you." Lio gestured out over the now thoughtful crowd of people. It was hard to argue with something like that, although he could see that many of them still wanted to. "Rest assured, tomorrow we will be verifying Galo's claims. For now, take what I tell you with a grain of salt and just think about it. From what Galo told me, there are three important facts to consider." Lio held up three fingers to demonstrate and paused for dramatic effect. "Firstly, Kray Foresight is Burnish."

Immediately, there was outrage. A few people jumped to their feet and one let out a burst of fire. Some refused to believe it outright, others swore to kill him for his betrayal of their people. Most were too stunned to react. Whatever their reaction, Lio let everyone get it out of their systems.

He was willing to wait. Gueira, apparently, was not. "Hey!" He snapped, punctuating it by letting out a burst of fire over everyone's heads. The chatter of overlapping voices stopped. "Calm your asses the fuck down. Boss still has two other points to go over. If you can't handle it, just leave. Don't interrupt."

Although Lio rolled his eyes, Gueira's lecturing worked and those who had gotten up sheepishly returned to their places on the floor. "Thank you, Gueira," Lio said dryly. He cleared his throat. "If Kray Foresight is indeed Burnish, that obviously changes our approach for an attack on him. I'll be discussing battle strategies with my generals once I'm certain that this is true." He waited a few seconds to continue, just to ensure that everyone was caught up and there was no visible confusion. "Alright. Secondly, the Earth's magma has been acting up. We're all aware of that." Lio gestured around them, at the newly-forming volcano that they had made a home in. "But the magma has grown so volatile that, in six months' time, volcanos all across the planet are going to erupt and cover the entire surface in lava, leaving Earth inhospitable."

There was no shouting that time. It was dead silent in the cavern aside from the crackling fire at the center. Lio grimaced. He couldn't blame them. Six months to live… Even if they could defeat Kray, how were they supposed to defeat the Earth's core?

He took a deep breath. "And I know this isn't going to make things any better, but… Lastly, our ability to control fire isn't of this universe. Our fire is sentient because it's a lifeform from a parallel universe. They're called the promare. So, the voices…" Lio tapped the side of his head with a wry little smile. "Those voices are living things."

It was quiet again. Then someone laughed. Toward the back, one of their newer recruits, Axel, shook his head. "Boss… You understand how hard all of this is to believe, don't you? Time travel, aliens, the end of the world… Are you _crazy_?"

"The two of us were there when he interviewed Galo Thymos," Meis cut in, gesturing between Gueira and himself. "As ridiculous as it all sounds, he was as earnest as I've ever seen anyone. No way to fake the kind of emotions that he was going through." There was a flash of sympathy on his face.

"And anyway," Gueira added, "Boss already said that we were going to verify those claims. Don't put too much weight into it yet."

"Right." Much as Lio didn't appreciate being talked about as if he wasn't there, he nodded, agreeing with his generals. "This is no cause for an existential crisis. At least, not yet. I thought that you all deserved to know why we sacrificed today's mission. It could end up meaning nothing. We're not sure yet."

That didn't seem to calm any of the uneasy looks going around the room, but that was the best that Lio could do. He didn't want to keep anything from his people. They trusted him, so he was going to make sure that they knew he wasn't taking that for granted.

Clearing his throat, Lio stood. "It's been a long day. If you have questions, you can feel free to stay, otherwise, disperse." People started getting up, and Lio glanced around those sitting still before signaling someone out. "Puth, you're on lookout. I want it rotated every hour." Puth snapped off a salute before going to do as told. Lio watched him leave for a moment, then turned back to those still lingering. He knew that it was a lot to process — Lio was willing to be as patient as he needed to be.

It took a while, but Lio stayed in the main room and answered questions until everyone was satisfied. No, he wasn't entirely convinced that it was all true, and informing everyone was only precautionary. Yes, their settlement was fine and they would be returning in a day or two. He didn't make any promises or announce a new ally in the city. Lio still had things that he wanted to be sure of before telling everyone. When asked how he would verify that Galo was telling the truth, Lio danced around the subject until those asking finally accepted that he wasn't ready to give a direct answer yet.

Eventually, once everyone was satisfied, Lio let himself be dragged off to the back room. The tunnel at the very back had a small cave at the end that Lio had claimed for himself and Gueira and Meis. It was only big enough for about three people to fit comfortably, anyway. There were no doors or hanging curtains to provide privacy, but usually, they were left alone unless it was an emergency. And after the day he'd had, Lio needed some downtime with the people he trusted most in the world to unwind.

As soon as they were alone, Lio slumped. He swung his bag off of his shoulder and onto the ground where Gueira and Meis had left theirs. Lio fell to his knees and buried his face in his bag, clutching it like a pillow. And he let out a long, _hard_ sigh. Not a scream. Today was too exhausting to be a screaming day.

Kneeling next to him, Gueira rubbed a hand between Lio's shoulder blades consolingly. "There, there, Boss," he said only semi-sarcastically. "Before you start rolling around in the dirt, maybe you should change into your casual dress."

Lio turned his head to glare at Gueira out of the corner of his eye — because he knew full well that cleaning up was as easy as a wave of the hand for Burnish — but it was a good point nonetheless. His leather was form-fitting, stylish, and sent a powerful message, but it wasn't particularly comfortable. Especially for sleeping.

"Yeah, alright." He ran a hand through his hair as he sat up, pulling his bag into his lap and opening it to riffle through his things. "You two should change, too."

Meis responded by shucking his shirt off, tossing it haphazardly to the side. "Ready for bed," he announced with far too much cheer.

In a similar fashion, Gueira ditched his pants and leather jacket. "Ditto," he parroted. He grinned at Lio. "So, now that we have some time alone…"

"You gonna tell us the details about Galo?" Meis finished. He had his chin propped up on one knee and was twisting a long strand of hair around his finger, batting his eyelashes at Lio. "C'mon. I know your type, Boss, and he looks like he could snap you in half over one of his muscled thighs."

Gueira fanned himself with one hand, pretending to swoon. "Keep pulling material straight out of my wet dreams, Meis, and I'm gonna end up popping a boner."

Unphased, Lio stood up as he finished with the last clasp on his jacket and flung the article of clothing in Gueira's face. "I was actually hoping to discuss tomorrow's plans with you two," he said nonchalantly.

Lio absolutely refused to address the sort of things they were saying about Galo. Gueira and Meis both believed in a more "free love" approach to their relationships and sex lives, which was _fine_ , but not how Lio operated. He had long ago stopped trying to flirt and hook up with every pretty face that made itself available. Actually, Lio hadn't so much as kissed someone on the cheek in months now. He'd given that up to train with his promare, and then to take on the responsibility of leading the Mad Burnish. A life spent doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, had been fun for him but Lio was past that phase.

That got him a groan from Gueira, but Meis at least took the hint and nodded. "Okay. What's the plan for tomorrow, then?"

"Other than getting you some action," Gueira chimed in. Lio had finished with his ruffled undershirt and tossed that at Gueira, too. Hopefully, by the time Lio got to his boots, Gueira would learn.

"Well, I told Galo that the three of us would meet him and his co-workers at the settlement tomorrow at noon," Lio began. He bent over to get started on the numerous elaborate straps that kept his pants in place. "We won't stay there. I want to show them that oasis. It's closer to the city, and I think it'll end up making a good in-between point for our groups. Depending on how long we need to stay in contact, that could be useful," he explained.

"Good call, Boss. Anything else?" Meis asked.

"If things go well, I want Galo to take me to the frozen lake and see if we can meet Dr. Prometh. If there really is an enormous lab beneath the ice, well… Then I suppose that's all the proof I need for all of Galo's other claims." Lio stepped out of his boots and shimmied his pants off. From his bag, he pulled a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Far from glamorous, but since he slept on the ground, Lio would take comfort where he could get it. "Truthfully," he admitted, "I'm hoping that Dr. Prometh will have some idea of how Galo traveled back in time. Strangely enough, that's the part about all of this that's hardest to believe."

"Maybe he came back in time with the power of _true love_ ," Gueira suggested with a sing-songy lilt to his words. He made kissy faces, then let out an indignant squawk when Lio sent a blast of fire his way in retaliation. "What? It could happen! You're just not a romantic, Boss. Maybe you guys are soulmates!"

Lio snorted. He grabbed a scrunchie from his bag and used it to pull most of his hair back into a bun. Brushes were hard to come by, so it helped keep his hair from tangling while he slept. " _Soulmates_ … That's just ridiculous," he muttered.

"Maybe it is," Meis agreed, "but you have to know how Galo looks at you, Boss. Like every time you so much as smile, you've just handed him the universe."

Incredulous, Lio asked, "Why are you two encouraging this? You guys know even less about Galo than I do. Why do you trust him already?" A part of him sounded a little helpless, and Lio hated it. Deep down, he wished that he could have their carefreeness. But someone had to be the paranoid one, to keep the others safe. Trusting everyone with opens arms had gotten Lio into trouble before.

Gueira shrugged one shoulder. "Trust? Not yet. But..." He paused. "I don't _not_ trust him, either. Look, Boss. You deserve to be happy with a nice guy built like a Greek god. From Galo's perspective, he's known you all of a week and he's ready to fall down at your feet," Gueira said with a pointed look.

"Must have been some week." Meis arched an eyebrow. "And he must have done _something_ incredible for you to be willing to give him your flame, so I know it wasn't entirely one-sided. That's a _big deal_ , Boss. We don't do that shit for just anyone," he said, and Gueira nodded in agreement. "So...?" He prompted Lio to say something with an exaggerated wave of his hand.

When Lio continued to be silent, Gueira grinned. "We can talk about that dragon you made instead if you want. You miss us that much, huh, Boss? We're dead for a day and you just go fucking feral."

Face coloring, Lio shook his head stubbornly. He sat down, setting his bag aside, and got as comfortable as he could leaning against the wall. He weighed his options carefully before speaking — and Lio only chose to focus on Galo because they had already dragged a lot of the details into the open, and he didn't have the energy to get into what a _mess_ that dragon was.

"I don't understand your obsession with Galo. Yes, I'm aware that he likes me. But I've known him for all of a day. And even if I didn't, with everything going on, a hookup is _literally_ one of the worst possible decisions that I could make. Plus, I—" Lio hesitated to admit this much, especially when his generals were already so insistent, but… He sighed and shifted uncomfortably. " _If_ I was going to sleep with Galo, it would be once we were in a committed relationship and he was ready. It would be meaningful." Lio's face was burning. He had to physically bite his tongue to keep himself from saying, _"He deserves that much, at least."_

Meis and Gueira exchanged a _look_. Then Gueira waggled his eyebrows and said, "But you admit that he has a nice ass?"

"A fuckable ass?" Meis pressed. 

Despite himself, Lio smiled. He appreciated them trying to break the tension, even if Lio still wasn't a fan of the particular topic they'd chosen. "I might if I could see his ass in those ridiculous parachute pants," Lio quipped back.

He leaned forward, dragging Meis and Gueira into a hug that took the three of them to the ground in a disjointed pile. It took a lot of shifting and more than one elbow to the gut, but eventually, the three of them were settled using each other's stomachs as pillows. When they had pillows and mattresses, they could sometimes end up contorted into knots together, especially with how clingy Meis was, but with their limited accommodations they had to get cushioning wherever they could.

"Alright, no more guy talk," Lio announced. "We're going to rest up for the meeting we have tomorrow." Before Gueira could say anything, Lio added, " _And_ there will be no intimidating our guests or making any comments about Galo's body below the neck."

Gueira huffed, making Lio's head bounce slightly. "Why is above the neck okay, then?"

Lio shrugged. "Meis already called him "pretty boy." He didn't seem to mind. Just don't make Galo uncomfortable," he warned.

"Aye-aye, Captain." Meis muffled a yawn. "Tomorrow we see what we can do to keep everyone on the planet from dying. And on the off-chance that we make it out of this alive…?" He poked Lio in the stomach, prompting him.

Rolling his eyes, Lio reached down and flicked Meis on the forehead. " _When_ we make it out alive," he corrected firmly, "I'll see how I'm feeling about Galo then. And _maybe_ something will come of it." He paused. "I did invite Galo to do yoga sometime."

The whoop that Gueira let out was so loud and sudden that Lio nearly shot out of his skin. "Brilliant plan, Boss! Now _that's_ how you get a guy out of his parachute pants. Guess you'll know whether or not you want to hit that ass by the end of the first date."

That got Gueira a swat on the forehead from both Meis and Lio. It didn't do much to keep him from laughing until he wheezed. Lio didn't try to hide his smile. He would have complained, but being rocked to sleep by Gueira's mirth shaking his head was still one of the best nights of sleep Lio had gotten in a while.


	6. Your Southern Constellations Got Me So Dizzy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "Southern Constellations" by Pierce the Veil. My girlfriend got me into their music, so you're probably going to see a lot of them from here on out. Best explanation I have for picking this line is... listen to this song and imagine it from Galo's POV. That is all. How does it relate to this chapter? It doesn't. Not in the slightest.
> 
> Also, I bumped up the rating on this fic from T to M. Not for any sexual reasons, just because there's some more "adult" things I'd like to do, in terms of themes and violence, and I feel like an M rating is more applicable than a T.
> 
> Sorry for not updating in a while. I was busy with other fics, but we're back!

Stepping off of Detroit, Lio dismissed his construct in a rush of flames and scanned his surroundings. Behind him, he heard Gueira and Meis similarly bringing their bikes to a stop and waving them off. They hadn't seen another soul in the area while approaching the settlement and, now that they'd arrived, Lio _still_ didn't see anyone else. The Waste around them was quiet and empty.

"Relax, Boss. They'll be here," Meis reassured him, leaning nonchalantly against one of the settlement's supports.

"You're the one who insisted on being early." Gueira rolled his eyes.

Lio sighed. "I realize that, I'm just a little bit keyed up. This is a big deal. If things go well, then…" Then by the end of today, they would be visiting that frozen lake. And if Dr. Prometh was really down there, and everything that Galo said was proven true, what was Lio supposed to do?

Well, fight Kray, for one, Lio supposed. But that didn't solve the biggest problem. He was still insanely curious about the dying words he had never finished telling Galo. Maybe there was a clue there? But first things first, if Lio was going to figure out how to calm the magma, he needed to know what was causing it to act up. Galo, bless him, was not well-versed in scientific jargon.

"Then you might get a date out of it?" Gueira asked innocently. Meis reached over and smacked him on the shoulder for that, which Lio sent him a grateful smile for.

"Sorry." He sighed. "I'm not in the mood for cheering up today. There's a lot more at stake here than just my imaginary love life," Lio explained.

Meis made a sympathetic noise. "I hear you, Boss. Wanna just wait in silence?"

They really were too good to him. Lio nodded. "If you don't mind." His chest was tight with affection. Where would he be without these two?

Gueira shrugged. "Yeah, alright, I'm sorry. Silence it is, then." So they all stopped talking and settled in to wait.

It wasn't a _long_ wait by any means, but Lio still found it relaxing. Quiet was good for him to get lost in his thoughts. And with the promare always speaking to him, the lack of outside stimulus really helped him focus. The promare was never particularly insightful or helpful. Lio wondered why that was. Now that he knew they were sentient lifeforms, was the lack of in-depth communication due to something as simple as a language barrier, or an issue of not having similar concepts between their two cultures?

Sure, Lio understood the urge to burn, but that wasn't something that they conveyed with traditional _words_. It was done through laughter and cajoling that he had assigned his own meaning to over the years. Lio understood _burn_ and _harder_ and _hotter_. Those were as simple as breathing. So he focused on the gaggle of animated voices at the back of his thoughts and tried to focus on what they were saying _now_.

It wasn't as simple as wanting to burn. Not at the moment anyway, and his promare always wanted that, regardless. Lio's face scrunched up as he tried to focus. Faint laughter bubbled up in his ears, making the flames in his chest rage. There was a wave of contentment that left Lio feeling… almost _happy_. And something tugged him out toward the Waste, toward Promepolis.

_Galo._

Lio's eyes snapped open. Out in the distance, he could see little puffs of dirt being kicked up, no doubt by motorcycles. There were three of them, heading toward the settlement purposefully. And considering the Waste was rather short on rogue biker gangs, Lio felt pretty safe to guess who was approaching.

He heard footsteps as Meis pushed off of the support he was leaning against, stopping at Lio's side. "Guess that's them," he said. He elbowed Lio lightly in the side. "Told you that there was nothing to worry about."

"I wasn't worried," Lio said automatically, though it couldn't be further from the truth. He resolved to think more about his promare later. Now, it was time to get serious.

"Anything we should know about these co-workers before we start with the introductions?" Gueira asked from his other side.

Squinting at the approaching bikes, Lio could see that only one of them was familiar. A few seconds more, and he was able to make out the hair colors of the riders. Blue was a relief, then pink, and what was either blond or brown. Lio couldn't tell just yet.

"Well, Galo mentioned bringing his team captain, whom I've yet to meet, so I can't say what he'll be like." Lio shook his head. "You've already met Galo, so be nice. And the third one is Aina. You two remember her, the pilot from the roof?"

Meis nodded. It took Gueira a few more moments to recall her face, but then he hummed in acknowledgment. "And is she gonna be a problem?" Meis asked, seeing the look on Lio's face and mistaking his exasperation for distaste.

Lio thought carefully about how to word his answer. The last thing he needed was Meis and Gueira trying to start a fight. No matter how impressive her biceps, she only had a single, relatively useless weapon, and Meis and Gueira could control fire. He did _not_ need to test that outcome. "Galo is a rookie on his team," he began. "As such, the others see him as naïve and inexperienced. He's like everyone's little brother." A pause. "Aina does not approve of where Galo has decided to place his affections."

"Ah." Gueira clicked his tongue. " _That_ won't be awkward at all."

"It won't be," said Lio firmly, "because Galo and I have no romantic relationship for her to disapprove of and, even if we did, her opinion on the matter would mean next to nothing to me. This is a business meeting, and _you two_ will not stir the pot." He gave them both warning looks. The motorcycles were close enough that Lio could see the grin on Galo's face. They didn't have much longer to hash this out.

"Damn, Boss." Faking a look of hurt, Meis shrank back. Gueira was holding his hands up in surrender. "You have so little faith in us? We'll be on our best behavior."

"Those guys are gonna leave this meeting thinking that we died and came back as angels," Gueira swore. Meis nodded enthusiastically.

Somehow, Lio had a hard time believing them. The matching grins on their faces probably had something to do with that.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to kick their asses. Even as Lio opened his mouth, he realized that the roaring of engines was too loud now for them to get into an argument. So he settled for sending his generals a glare while Meis pretended to study his nails and Gueira whistled innocently. With a sigh, he turned to greet their potential allies.

Galo was the first to arrive, unsurprisingly. Lio took a moment to appreciate his sleek bike before turning his attention back to the man straddling it. "Galo," he said, extending his hand for a handshake. "It's nice to see you a—"

Lio's greeting was lost somewhere in Galo's broad chest, as he wasted no time hopping off his bike and pulling Lio into a tight, crushing hug. It wasn't doing a lot to help Lio keep things "professional." His face was burning by the time Galo let him go, and it wasn't because he'd been having trouble breathing.

"I'm really glad to see you, too, Lio!" Galo said cheerfully, grinning brighter than the sun. His gaze slid over to Meis and Gueira, and a second later, Galo was hugging them, too. Lio couldn't tell if it was as tight as the hug he had gotten, but a _tiny_ part of him was satisfied when he noticed that it didn't last nearly as long. "And you guys, too, hey! How's it going?"

Meis looked more than a little frazzled. "Um, fine. A fistbump will do next time," he said wearily, knowing full-well that Galo was going to continue to give him monster bear hugs.

For his part, Gueira was an equal cross between disgruntled and amazed. "Wow. You're really strong," he muttered. And when Galo turned around, Gueira elbowed Lio and bent over to hiss in his ear, " _You up for sharing?"_ The only answer he got was Lio jamming the heel of his boot as hard as he could into Gueira's toes. The grunt that he let out was more satisfying than it should have been.

Lio covered it up smoothly by taking a step forward, toward Galo's co-workers that had just arrived. "Nice to meet you," he said, directing his attention to Galo's Captain. Lio extended his hand for a shake. "I'm Lio Fotia."

"Ignis Ex." Dismounting from his motorcycle, he took hold of Lio's hand and shook it firmly once. It was incredibly difficult to read his emotions, and not just because of his sunglasses, but so far Lio didn't _think_ that things were going poorly. "And you're the leader of Mad Burnish?" Behind him, Aina had also gotten off her motorcycle and looked just as unimpressed as she had the day before. Galo was the only one still smiling, as though immune to the tension in the air.

"Yes." Lio nodded and gestured behind him to Gueira and Meis. "These are my two top-ranking generals." He pointed to them as he said their names. "Gueira and Meis. I hope them joining us isn't a problem. I keep no secrets from my people."

Ignis hummed. Lio couldn't tell if that was a good noise or not. Before he could fret about it too much, Ignis said, "That was some fire you three set yesterday. It nearly killed nineteen people and the repairs are going to cost millions."

He wasn't making small talk. He wanted an explanation. And considering that Ignis was the Captain of a firefighting team, Lio had expected as much. Telling him the truth was taking a risk, in the sense that, if Ignis decided to take the information to his higher-ups, that plan was shot. Lio wouldn't be able to let himself get captured in order to instigate a breakout.

But on the other hand, there was more than one way to free prisoners. And if the world was going to end in six months, then it didn't matter whether his people were in prison or outside of it. They would all be dead anyway. In the grand scheme of things, Lio had more important plans to be making. He could stage the mother of all prison escapades once the world was saved.

He only hesitated for a second. Then Lio answered, honestly, "Since becoming the leader of Mad Burnish nine months ago, I've been very selective about what buildings we burn and when. Burnish need to burn to survive. I do what I can to pick abandoned areas or targeting business areas over residential ones. The attack yesterday on Foresight Pharmaceuticals was planned so that me and my generals would be arrested. Our plan was to let ourselves be taken into Kray's remote prison and then break our people out of it." Of course, breaking out of prison was still _technically_ illegal, but hopefully, it was better in Ignis' eyes than arson was. Regardless, it was the truth. And if Lio wanted allies, he knew that trust had to go both ways.

"I thought that prison was just a rumor," Aina said uneasily. Lio didn't blame her — just yesterday, Kray had been her beloved governor and now Lio was describing his countless human rights violations. There was bound to be an adjustment period. "I mean, if it was real… That'd be against the law. The conditions sound horrible."

"Overcrowded conditions, constant freezing temperatures, little food or water, no bathing, not even to _mention_ the human experimentation…" Meis listed them off on his fingers. "All part of the trademark Foresight Foundation hospitality," he said dryly.

"They keep kids in there, too," Galo spoke up suddenly. When he saw the looks he was getting, he hurried to add, "I mean, when I ran into Lio after he escaped prison, he had a bunch of children with him. And old people, too. All sorts of ages and gender and race…" He trailed off. "Like it didn't even matter."

"Because they see us as all the same anyway," Lio finished grimly. He sighed. "I haven't been to the prison myself, but the rumors I've heard are undoubtedly worse than what makes it into the city." He grimaced. "And I'm sure the reality is far worse than the rumors."

After that, Aina didn't seem very keen on talking. She turned thoughtful while the atmosphere between them all gradually grew more awkward with every second that the silence continued.

The whole time, Ignis hadn't stopped staring at him. Lio could _feel_ that stare burning a hole through his head, even with the sunglasses in the way.

"So—" Lio cleared his throat. "I had a secondary place in mind where we can go to speak. I thought that having a middle ground to act as a go-between would be more strategically sound than always coming directly to each other."

Ignis nodded. "Good plan. Lead the way."

And for some reason, Lio's first impulse was to turn to Galo. He wasn't sure why. To offer him a ride? To ask if they could ride together? His face colored as he mentally berated himself. Galo had a bike already and Lio was the one who knew where they were going. _Stupid_. He blamed the heat in his chest that kept trying to convince Lio to close the distance between them. He wasn't sure what his promare was playing at, but Lio wasn't having it.

Ignoring Gueira's snickering, Lio turned toward the direction they would be heading and formed Detroit. Aina watched, looking impressed. As always, Ignis was unmoved. Lio supposed that he was just going to have to get used to that.

He climbed onto his bike and, once making sure that everyone else was situated, Lio called out, "Just make sure you can keep up!" and shot forward into the Waste.

Riding with a group was the sort of thing that Lio loved. The raids that they did as a group, rolling into an abandoned area and razing it to the ground on their bikes, were some of Lio's favorite memories. The laughter and cheers from his fellow Burnish were an excellent addition.

"Hey, Lio!" Galo pulled up next to him with a grin, shouting to be heard over the engines and the win. "Wanna race? I bet I could beat you there!"

"A race?" Lio couldn't help his incredulous tone. He could have prevented himself from smirking, but he didn't. He was never more confident than when he was riding Detroit. "You don't even know where we're going! And unless you have the speed limiter removed on that bike, it wouldn't be much of a race regardless!"

It was a nice bike, but obviously a product of the city. Lio was willing to bet that it was perfectly legal and all of the parts were relegated and Galo didn't know the first thing about advanced modifications.

All of those points were proven true when Galo looked at him with surprise. "You can remove that?" He looked down at his bike, as if able to see the fabled component or perhaps wondering if tinkering with his bike while in motion was a good idea. Galo almost swerved into him as a result, were it not for Lio moving away at the last second. When he lifted his head, Galo was no less determined. "Doesn't matter! I'd still beat you, my handling is top-notch! Unless you're scared to try?" He goaded.

Lio took about three seconds to consider it. Their destination was a fifteen-minute drive from the settlement at their current pace. If Galo and Lio went out of sight, Gueira and Meis would be able to lead Aina and Ignis. He was positive that he would win the race easily, and Galo probably knew that, but this seemed like a fun way to get the energy out. Lio would take what opportunities he could to destress.

"I hope you like to lose, then," Lio said innocently. And just because he knew that Galo wouldn't be able to match it, he lurched forward, doubling his speed in a second.

He laughed and the sound got lost in the wind. Lio pushed his hair behind his ears to keep it from snapping in his face, looking over his shoulder. To his credit, Galo was _trying_ , and he began to quickly pull away from the others as he chased after Lio. But it definitely wasn't what Lio would call a _race_.

That wasn't important, though. Lio slowed to let Galo get closer, then he fell back entirely, doing a circle around Galo to come up again on his other side. The way that Galo was looking at him shouldn't have been as validating as it was.

"Now you're just showing off," Galo accused, not that he seemed to mind very much.

"If I was showing off, I would already have reached the destination!" Lio pumped the throttle to make his engine roar, flames leaping off of his bike. The heat made Galo swerve to avoid it, a startled laugh leaving his lips. Lio wished that the wind hadn't snatched the noise away. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were just trying to get me alone!" He shouted.

"What's that? I can't hear you over the, uh, engines!" Galo said innocently. He started to pull ahead, as best he could when he was already just about capping out his speedometer.

Lio rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "See you there!" He offered Galo a two-fingered wave and then pushed Detroit forward with whiplash-inducing speed. That time, Lio didn't let himself fall back. What could he say? He was competitive.

The oasis was a general title for a struggling pond that Lio had stumbled across in the Waste. There were patches of it that were less dead than others, but this was one of the only places that a body of water could be found. Lio liked it because of the dense, shrub-like foliage that struggled through the sand and the rocks to grow there. There were even a few trees that made for good shade. It relied mostly on rainwater so, since it was May, the pond was struggling. It did better in the autumn and spring. Regardless, the plants and tough terrain made it a good hiding place. Lio had used it in the past to stay in touch with other branches of the Mad Burnish before they were either captured or joined up with him.

He stopped Detroit next to the edge of the oasis and let it disappear before walking over the grass. Lio didn't go very far. He leaned against the biggest tree, enjoying the shade while he watched Galo's bike grow bigger on the horizon.

When he arrived, Galo was panting and sweating. It made Lio glad that he was wearing a black shirt, though it was so tight that he wondered how Galo was managing to catch his breath at all.

"I win," Lio said smugly before Galo could get a word in. "You gave it your best shot, though. Good job."

"Cut the chivalry." Galo narrowed his eyes playfully as he cut the engine and scrambled off his bike. "Gloat while you still can. I'm gonna get my bike fixed up, and the next time we race, you won't win so easily. Just you wait and see. Galo Thymos never backs down from a challenge!" He declared, hands on his hips.

If he put some effort into it, Lio probably could have come up with a sufficiently witty response. But he didn't bother. He stared at Galo fondly. "Next time, hm?" Lio hummed. "You're making a lot of plans for the future." Not that Lio was belittling him for it. He just found it interesting.

"Of course." Galo blinked, legitimately taken aback. "I just said that I never back down from a challenge! And if the universe wants to test me with saving the world, stopping Kray, _and_ keeping you alive, then I'm damn well gonna do it! There's no room for failure — my burning soul couldn't take the shame a second time."

A little helplessly, Lio thought of a different version of himself who thought that Galo was important enough to give his flame to. He could sort of see why. Galo had no idea what self-preservation was. If he was giving his all to everyone else, then Lio supposed it was the least he could do to make sure that Galo's heart was still beating. God knows that he could use all the help he could get, the idiot.

Lio had no idea what sort of face he was making. But if the way that Galo flushed was any indication, then he wasn't doing a very good job at keeping his admiration hidden. Lio found that he didn't mind all that much. "There you go again, talking like you have to do it all alone. Didn't your team remind you yesterday that they're willing to fight with you?" He paused. "I'm by your side too, Galo. If that wasn't clear already."

Galo stuttered. "I— I mean, yeah, I _know_ that, it's just—" He finally seemed to notice the approaching motorcycle engines and turned to check on their progress over his shoulder. They were close enough for Lio to make out hair colors, but not much else. Galo seemed to think that it was close enough that he didn't want to risk saying anything personal, because he just nodded. "I know, thanks," he said, his expression soft.

Letting himself be so unguarded was unfamiliar, but not _unwelcome_. Lio returned the smile, though he wasn't sure what he was being thanked for. "You're welcome," he replied.

They waited in silence for another minute until the others could join back up. Gueira was the first to stop, and other than wiggling his eyebrows at Lio, he stayed true to his promise to remain professional during this meetup. Right after him was Aina, and she'd barely slid her keys out of the ignition before she was getting off of her bike and storming over to Galo.

"What was that about?" She demanded, swatting him on the arm. "You shouldn't run off, Galo. We're supposed to stick together."

He scowled, rubbing his arm absently. "What's the big deal, _mom_? We were all gonna meet up here anyway. What's it matter if I got here at the same time or a few minutes faster?"

Assumedly, Aina's concern came from the fact that she had to watch someone close to her get kidnapped the day before. The worry tended to linger. Lio didn't call her out on it — he was familiar with that sort of ache, although he was rarely so lucky as to have the people he missed safely returned to him.

Of course, Aina didn't answer, either because she couldn't think of the words or because she didn't want to admit to it by saying it out loud. They were distracted by Meis rolling up with Ignis. Once his feet were on the ground, Ignis grabbed two bags that he'd attached to either side of his bike and approached Lio with them.

"These are for you," he said, handing them off. The bags were fairly heavy and it caught Lio by surprise. Not that he had any trouble holding them up once he adjusted himself, of course. "Galo said that your people needed food and other supplies. We brought what we could carry."

Lio blinked, taken aback. Once he recovered, he wasted no time in kneeling down to sift through the bags. Meis and Gueira practically trampled over each other to get to Lio's side and see what he had been given.

"This is... " Lio had to sit back, stunned. It was so much food. The two bags were stuffed to the point of nearly splitting the seams, filled with broths, honey, dried fruit, canned meats; even packets of seeds for a dozen different vegetables that they could plant. His mouth worked a few times but nothing came out.

They didn't give Lio any time to recover. "Hold on, we have more," Galo said, gesturing for Lio to stay put. As if he was going anywhere any time soon. He ran back over to his bike while Aina did the same.

Two more bags were pushed into Meis' arms; the same for Gueira. They both knelt next to Lio to open them up.

"Water?" Meis pulled a bottle of water out of his first one. The next one was half water bottles and half bundles of paper. That got Galo an eyebrow raised.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and shrugged with one arm. "Lio told me that you guys burn to control the voices, so I thought… Paper's flammable and not all that valuable, right?"

Before Meis could comment, Gueira gave up on waiting and tossed his bags open. "Oh, my God." He pulled out one of the softest-looking blankets Lio had ever seen. There was the sharp, primal urge to run his fingers along it that Lio refused to give into. Not that it stopped Gueira. "Two bags full of blankets? You're shitting me." He looked like he might cry.

Galo took his tone in the completely wrong way, though. "Shit, sorry. Should I have grabbed another bag full of food? It looked like a lot when we were packing, so I thought maybe we could get some comfort items instead? Lio probably keeps you guys pretty well-stocked, but Remi said that variety of diet is always important so we got a bunch of different canned stuff. A-And blankets are bulky, so we got two bags and even then we could only fit, like, twelve of them. You guys aren't upset, are you?" He looked between the three of them with concern before his gaze, inevitably, settled on Lio. "Well?"

And that was what did it: the genuineness. The desire to help that was so potent that it had sent Galo into a rambling mess when he thought he had fallen short somehow. Lio blinked slowly. He sniffled. Galo's eyes widened in alarm while Gueira and Meis went rigid on either side of him. Then there were tears tracking their way down his face and Lio couldn't even remember when the urge to cry began.

For some reason, Galo recovered first. Gueira and Meis had never seen Lio cry before, so maybe that was it. He had been sad in front of them before, sure. Plenty of times. They had been each other's shoulders to lean on since the day that Lio was given leadership. But Lio Fotia did not cry.

Except when he was burning a city to the ground, apparently.

With a painful amount of gentleness, Galo cupped his face, kneeling in front of Lio. "Hey," he murmured, so casual about it that Lio almost burst out laughing. "What's wrong? This is all a good thing, isn't it?"

It was a good thing. But good things weren't supposed to happen to him: at least, not without a fight. These were just being handed to Lio. Resources for his people, both essential and not. All he had needed to do was ask and it was given. Galo had prepared this for him, fretted over the details despite his teammates' reassurances.

Lio did his best to make his voice work without it breaking. "I— t-this is… I didn't even…" He gave up. He couldn't make Galo understand it. The resources they had currently had been stolen and scavenged and fought over.

This was a gift. Lio couldn't remember the last time he'd been given one.

Instead of talking, he put his arms around Galo and leaned in. It was odd to be hugging when Lio was still painfully aware that they had an audience, but Galo didn't have any of those reservations. He pulled Lio into him like he had just been waiting for permission, tucking Lio's head down against him and tracing up and down his spine with one hand while the other arm stayed locked around Lio's waist.

No one spoke. Lio chuckled weakly to himself. He had to make for a funny sight to Aina and Ignis: _this_ was the terrifying arsonist leading the Mad Burnish? The slight little thing who cried over some canned food? He felt ridiculous. This was nothing worth crying over.

But Galo didn't make him feel stupid for it, and no one else was laughing, either. Lio wiped his eyes, made sure that he wasn't trembling, and pulled away. He avoided looking Galo in the eyes. "Thanks for that," he said quietly. "I apologize for making a scene."

Galo waved him off with an easy smile. "It's okay. I get that it's probably a lot for you right now." He stayed like that, loosely holding onto Lio, for several long seconds. Then the silence must have brought his self-awareness back because Galo suddenly shifted back and cleared his throat. Lio missed his touch and couldn't imagine why. "I mean, you, uh— you did the same for me yesterday, so it really was the least I could do," he said a little helplessly.

Before his generals could say anything about what just happened, Lio shifted his gaze to Ignis. "Why?" He asked, digging his fingers into the loose dirt as he leaned forward, attempting to ground himself. "Why would you give us these things before knowing whether or not you want to risk it by siding with us?"

Ignis shook his head. "Because this isn't about sides. This is about people who are dying and going without." He gestured toward the bag of food. "Some canned goods is the least we could do. If we decide to leave here without any further agreement, at least no one under your care will be going hungry for a while."

For thirty-one people, two bags of canned food wasn't a lot. But for thirty-one people, two bags of canned food could be the difference between one of them finally succumbing to starvation or not. And the seeds alone were practically invaluable. Lio scrubbed furiously at his eyes again, determined not to have a repeat episode.

It _had_ to be something that Galo did. It seemed like every time he came into Lio's life, things stopped making sense.

"You're a good man, not that I think you need me to tell you that," Lio said evenly, tucking the bags closed carefully. "Thank you for this. You've no idea how much this will mean to my people."

With the supplies set aside for the time being, the six of them sat in a circle. It was better than sitting in two separate rows as if this were a negotiation. It wasn't, not really. It was a conversation.

Lio did most of the talking. Questions were asked and he answered, sometimes selectively but always honestly. How did he end up being the leader of Mad Burnish? Lio told them the story, with Meis and Gueira adding in for the details he was lacking. He very pointedly did _not_ smile when he saw how eagerly Galo was listening, as if entranced by Lio's every syllable. Why burn down buildings in the city if he claimed to be non-violent? Lio explained the urges of the voices — the promare — inside of them, telling them to burn. The Waste was short on structures that were flammable enough. But Lio would take property damage over the loss of human life. Why didn't he want to kill? Because it wouldn't solve anything — especially not now that they knew there were forces greater than Kray Foresight at play. Why the hostage situation? Because Lio couldn't think of a better way to get Galo away from the city without the risk of being pursued.

And it went on like that. For hours. Galo had already told his side to his team, so they were all pretty much up to speed on the same information. Most of Ignis' questions were, Lio suspected, more due to personal curiosity and wanting to make sure that the story lined up.

They were asking a lot from each other, after all. Lio wanted to ensure the safety of his people. Ignis wanted to keep his team from getting locked up for life if they committed treason only to find out that they had been lied to all along. As pedantic as it all was, Lio didn't lose his patience. He understood. For leaders, the final decision was never something that could be made lightly.

"There is one other thing," Lio added when it seemed that Aina and Ignis had run out of questions for him. He nodded at Galo. "You told me something yesterday. Something about Aina's sister…?"

Although Galo looked far from happy about the reminder, his expression darkened in understanding and he nodded. "Aina…" He turned to look at her, the confusion evident on her face. "There's something I never told you about my story. It's… about Heris."

"What about her?" Aina asked, voice clipped. She was far from stupid, but Lio could see it in her eyes: the pieces sliding into place and the desperate hope that she was wrong. She didn't want to accept it. And Lio understood that, too. He had been in her position just twenty-four hours before.

"Heris is… the lead researcher on Kray's Parnassus project," Galo admitted, looking away. "I watched her perform human experiments on the Burnish myself. I'm sorry."

To her credit, Aina took it a lot better than Lio thought she would. "There— she has to have a reason," Aina muttered, mostly to herself. She looked stunned. "Heris wouldn't. She's never been the type to…"

Gueira clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. "Tell me about it. You think you know someone, then you turn your back for a minute and _bam_! They're performing human experimentation." When his joke failed to get a laugh, his smile turned apologetic. "Too soon?"

Acting before Aina could kill Gueira for that, Galo cut in. "She told me that she's doing it for you," he blurted out. _That_ was news to Lio, and his eyes widened. "Heris, she said that she was doing this to make sure that you survive, Aina. I think she got Kray to agree to give you a seat on the Parnassus."

The silence that followed was long and tense. Lio wasn't sure who was angrier — himself, or Aina. All of those Burnish killed… for the sake of one person.

" _What_?" Aina managed finally, voice low and dangerous.

Galo didn't get the hint. "I, uh… I said that Heris is—"

"I heard you the first time!" Aina snapped, climbing to her feet and beginning to pace. "That selfish _bitch—_! She's always been like this! It doesn't matter how old I get or what I accomplish, I'm still just a little kid to her! Still need my big sister to protect me, _huh_? Of course she didn't stop to ask me what I thought or what I wanted, _she never has_! Why start now?" She slammed her foot angrily into a rock, sending it skidding across the ground an impressive distance. If it hurt, then Aina didn't let that show. "That's it: I'm going to kill her. I am going to hunt her down, string her up by her lab coat, and—!"

"Aina." Ignis cut into her rant without raising his voice. He gestured for her to sit back down. "You need to calm down. Taking out your frustration by yelling and hitting things isn't going to solve anything," he instructed.

And to Lio's surprise, it worked. Aina looked for a moment like Ignis was the next thing that she was going to kick, but then she let out a hard sigh. Her posture slumped as she retook her seat. "Yeah, alright," she mumbled. "Sorry for losing my cool like that. I'm sorry for snapping at you, too, Galo. You didn't do anything wrong."

"It's okay," Galo said automatically, taken aback. As if he hadn't thought anything of Aina shouting at him. Or maybe he just didn't expect an apology. Either way, it made Lio's expression twist. "I just, uh, thought that it was something you'd want to know. I meant to tell you yesterday, but it slipped my mind with everything else we were talking about."

"Well, it could certainly be useful," Ignis agreed. "Now we just need to figure out how we're going to use it."

Lio straightened up. "Are you saying that—?"

"We're going to help you?" Turning to Lio, Ignis smiled. It wasn't a big one, but it was genuine. "After everything we've discussed here today, I don't see how we could do anything else. Galo, how long do we have until Kray instigates his plan?"

With his name being brought up, Galo stopped whispering to Aina and snapped to attention. "What's today, Thursday?" He thought about it for a moment. "Kray started his launch next Friday the first time, but he's got a time frame of six months, he said. Now that I think about it, he might have only launched as early as he did because Lio attacked him…" Galo mused.

"To be on the safe side we should act as if Kray is going to begin launch next Friday," Lio said, cupping his thin with a thoughtful frown. "That doesn't leave us a lot of time to work with…"

"I don't know how much it will help, but I can confront Heris," Aina offered. "I know that stopping the Parnassus isn't as important as cooling the Earth's core, but worst comes to worst, I might be able to convince her to sabotage it somehow so that we don't have to worry about the launch. I'm sure she'll reconsider once I tell her that there's nothing she can do to make me board that thing," she said seriously.

It was an admirable offer. Lio nodded in thanks.

"And while you do that," Meis supplied, "someone needs to go check out that frozen lake. Us Burnish should be able to do it fine. We can melt the ice to get down there."

"We'll have to make the boss a lot angrier if he wants to be able to do that again. I mean—" Gueira shook his head, awed. "—evaporating a whole lake? That's gonna take some serious firepower."

Of course, Lio had already made up his mind to visit that lake personally. He needed to find answers, dammit. Sending someone else on his behalf wasn't going to cut it.

"Then it's settled," Lio agreed. "Gueira, you'll return to our safe house with the supplies and hold down the fort in our absence. Meis, you'll accompany me, Galo, and Ignis to the frozen lake. Aina, in the meantime, you'll return to Promepolis and get in touch with your sister as soon as possible. Say whatever you need to say to get her to agree to meet with you, but don't reveal anything important over the phone."

"There is one other thing," Ignis added. Which was good, because it looked like Aina was about to say something snippy about Lio giving orders like he had any right to. (He didn't see Galo complaining about being bossed around, though.) "I left Remi back at HQ to manage public relations in my absence, but I'm afraid that your kidnapping stunt stirred up the press. They all want an interview with Galo about what happened while he was with Mad Burnish. And in the meantime, Kray has also requested a private audience with him."

Lio narrowed his eyes. Of course Kray would… He wanted to interrogate Galo about their whereabouts, Lio was sure. And they couldn't refuse without drawing suspicion. As far as Kray was concerned, Galo was still his number one fan.

At least Galo was a serviceable actor.

Standing up, Lio walked over to Galo and offered his hand. Surprised, Galo looked up at Lio and hesitated only a moment before taking it. He looked ashamed and it made Lio's stomach twist. He wasn't sure what he had to do to get Galo to understand that Kray's actions did not reflect back on him in any way, but that was a problem for later. And, ideally, for a therapist.

"Do you think you can handle talking to Kray tomorrow?" Lio asked. "We'll work out your story ahead of time, so don't worry about that part. But you need to tell him _something_ , and furthermore, I think this could be a good opportunity to plant a bug in his office."

It was a plan that Lio was coming up with on the fly but, well, if Lucia could make a drone that could avoid detection from the naked eye, then he was sure that she could make a little microphone for them to leave in Kray's office. The very idea made Lio anxious with anticipation. To have that sort of edge against Kray… It was practically invaluable. The only thing better would be gaining access to his computers.

"Yeah. I can do it," Galo replied. Even though he was standing now, he still hadn't let go of Lio's hand. If anything, he was holding on tighter. "I'll tell him whatever you need me to. You can count on me, Lio."

It might have been a tender moment, but they were interrupted when Gueira cleared his throat violently behind him. Lio shot him a glare, dropping Galo's hand in the process. Gueira's only response was to grin and wiggle his eyebrows. _Brat._

"Alright, I think that settles it." Ignis got to his feet as well, offering Aina his hand. "We'll leave to investigate that lake. Aina, inform the others of what we discussed. Tell Remi to let Kray know that Galo will be visiting his office tomorrow."

"And ask Lucia if she can get a bug ready, or a hidden camera," Lio added.

Aina rolled her eyes and gave him a mock salute. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. I know what my orders are." She walked back over to her motorcycle and slung one leg over the side, turning the ignition. "Anything else? Does anyone need something from the store while I'm running everyone's errands?" She asked jokingly.

"Oh, can you get me some eggs?" Galo intervened, completely serious. "It's for a _thing_ with Lucia. We need the jumbo-sized ones, as many cartons as they'll let you buy."

The look on Aina's face was exasperated and fond; if that was how Lio looked at Galo too, then he understood why Meis and Gueira thought that he was falling for the guy. "I'll see what I can do," Aina said vaguely. Then she revved her engine and was speeding off through the Waste, back to the city.

Lio turned to Gueira next. "You can handle yourself for the rest of the day, can't you?"

Gueira pretended to be hurt. "Boss, I'm wounded! Doubted by the man I pledged to follow through hell and back? Cold. Ice-fucking-cold." He gathered all six of the bags that they had been given without much effort. To get around how bulky they were, Gueira put three on each shoulder. The weight wasn't an issue. "I'll be fine. Everyone else will be really happy to see this stuff. See you two when you get back." He gave Lio a fist bump and Meis a one-armed hug. Then, in a flurry of flames, he had summoned Miami and was heading in the opposite direction that Aina had taken. Back toward home.

There was a brief feeling of longing in Lio's chest. Then he felt Galo shift to stand closer to him and it was gone. "That never stops being cool," he said, staring after Gueira's flaming tire-tracks.

The logical part of Lio's brain was screaming; _no, don't do it, absolutely not, this is a terrible idea._ Lio opened his mouth anyway. "You can ride with me on the way to the lake," he offered. "I can tow your bike with us." Or they could leave it here and Galo would have to ride with him back into the city, too. Oh, no. How horrible an idea.

"You mean it?" Galo's face lit up, like that simple gesture meant everything to him, and Lio…

Lio just sort of _sighed_ internally and accepted it. Yeah. Okay, fine. So he was crushing. He could deal with that. It wasn't like he was about to act on it, anyway. Not with everything else that was going on.

"I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. Come on. I'll form Detroit slowly for you if you want," Lio offered as he led Galo some distance away. "As long as you don't mind giving me directions."

Behind him, he heard Meis sigh. Ignis grumbled something that sounded like, " _Tell me about it."_

Both of them went ignored. There were more important things to be focusing on. (Including, but not limited to, the smile that took up Galo's whole face when Lio invited him to ride on the back of Detroit. Yeah... He was _so_ fucked.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's funny that Lio is more of a leader/lone wolf who's always talking about the collective "we" of the Burnish, and Galo is a team player who's always speaking with "I" and "me" until he reminds himself otherwise. These two are perfectly complementary contradictions and I love them.
> 
> It's my birthday today and I have an eight hour shift, so comments are appreciated <3


	7. My Head is on Fire, But My Legs Are Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "Carry On" by fun. Meaning of this title: "my head is on fire," means "I'm confused and don't know what to think," and "my legs are fine," means "I have the determination to carry on toward my goals anyway."

They took the long way around Promepolis' outskirts, just to be safe. It would end up adding an hour to their time, for the way there and the way back, but Lio couldn't bring himself to mind too much. He was confident in Gueira's ability to take care of and protect the settlement. And anyway, Lio was also rather fond of the way Galo's arms slotted around his waist while he drove. When it was time to give him instructions, Galo would lean in to be heard over the noise of the wind. Sometimes his lips brushed Lio's ear, making him shiver.

Eventually, he had to slow to follow the winding mountain roads. They had passed a few cars, but Lio didn't think they were suspicious-looking. Ignis and Galo had both foregone their Burning Rescue jackets for the day, which was a good call. They could just be a group of friends going on a mountain drive. Nothing more than that.

When Galo tugged on his arm, pointing Lio toward a worn path through the trees, he slowed and took it. The foliage was crushed and damp enough that he wasn't worried about accidentally starting a forest fire. And even if he did, well, Lio would be able to put it out. After he let it burn for a few minutes. Just to get some of his jitters out.

The path led through the trees for about a mile before widening and emptying out to an honestly stunning view. Lio wasn't easily impressed, after some of the things he had seen, but he felt his lips part in surprise. The mountains were picturesque, jagged points reaching into the solid blue sky. Around them, there was a thin dusting of snow and frost over the trees. The lake at the center was unnaturally perfect, with such smooth curves that Lio almost thought he was looking at a swimming pool instead of something naturally formed. And the ice, too, had strangely beautiful fractals cutting through its surface and down; far, far beneath what Lio could see.

"Wow," Lio managed lamely. It was a view better suited to a snowglobe, rather than this shitty world.

Galo let out a short laugh and climbed off the back of Detroit. Lio missed his presence immediately. "I know. First time I found this place, I just stared for hours," he admitted.

Behind them, Meis' bike rumbled into the clearing, followed by Ignis'. They both similarly needed a double-take, which made Lio feel a little bit better about his own reaction.

Meis whistled lowly. "Well, I'll be damned. Think we can make our new base out here, Boss? Or maybe a nice winter chalet when all of this persecution shit is over, huh?"

Lio nodded in agreement. A chalet sounded a touch optimistic, but he wasn't about to say so. To get as far as he had, all Lio ever did anymore was think optimistically. ' _Look on the bright side: at least we aren't **all** dead.'_

"This is government-owned land," Ignis said as he dismounted his bike. Despite himself, Lio grimaced. Of course it was. "But if you want prime real-estate for a chalet…" He pointed up toward one of the far mountain peaks. A smile twitched beneath his mustache. "I'd be willing to bet that the view is even better up there. And it probably has easier access to ski slopes."

"The man makes a damn good point," Meis agreed with a grin as he dismounted from Dallas. "What do you say, Boss? Do you think you'd pitch in if I could talk Gueira into it? We could make it into a clubhouse."

It really wasn't the time to be joking, but Lio couldn't help the smile that came to his face. He knew that Meis was kidding, yet it still sounded nice. He let Detroit dissolve beneath him — the construct that Lio had made to tow Galo's bike with them similarly disappeared. When this was all over, hanging out with Meis and Gueira in the snowy mountains and unwinding with a picturesque view sounded _heavenly_. Lio glanced over at Galo, who had wandered out onto the ice, and wondered if he could somehow coax Galo into joining them.

"Pitch in? And be held liable for damages when Gueira inevitably trashes the place?" Lio scoffed, taking a careful step onto the ice. He wobbled unsteadily, so settled for pushing himself forward like he was skating instead of risking his balance by walking. "I'll pass. But I'll be sure to visit. I can bring wine as compensation."

"Ah, wine," Meis sighed wistfully. He stepped onto the ice as well. "Fuck. I've missed getting drunk."

Taking up the rear, the three of them following Galo out toward the lake's center, Ignis huffed on a little laugh. "Low on reserves? You should have said something, I would have brought a bottle or two."

"Real shit?" Meis craned his neck to look at Ignis over his shoulder. "I'd _kill_ for some Merlot if it would actually get me drunk. If there's one downside to being Burnish, it's that alcohol and weed do basically nothing."

Lio sighed, exasperated. "Weren't you fourteen when you had your awakening?" He asked, already fully aware of the answer.

"Maybe." Meis shrugged with false innocence. "What are you, my parole officer? Life is too short to wait for the government to tell me what I can and can't do."

At that point in their relationship, Lio was still willing to bet that Meis had never gotten drunk or high in his life and was just saying shit like that as a joke. But it got harder and harder to tell with every passing day.

"I think this is a good spot," Galo announced suddenly, stopping a good distance away from the shore. He stomped on the ice with his foot and then frowned like he was disappointed that it didn't shatter immediately. "Now we just gotta figure out how to get down there. It's pretty deep and the ice goes all the way."

"That's the easy part." Lio held up his hands and lit them on fire to demonstrate. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ignis automatically tense up before forcibly unwinding again. At least he didn't draw his gun. "I'll melt us a tunnel down to the middle. Meis can walk in front of me and make sure that the water evaporates so that it doesn't end up pooling."

Of course, Lio _could_ evaporate the water himself, but a low burn sounded smarter and that meant turning ice into water, not vapor. He didn't want to make the whole lake evaporate, just enough for them to reach the lab that was apparently beneath. A frozen lake disappearing overnight sounded like the sort of thing that would attract attention. And the last thing that Lio needed was Kray catching wind of this and getting some form of upper hand — not now that it finally felt like they were all playing on equal ground.

"Are you sure that's—? Oh." Galo blinked and turned faintly red. "Fire-proof. Right."

Meis snickered, making finger guns in Lio's direction. Little bursts of flames came from his fingertips. "Wow, Boss. You sure know how to pick 'em," he drawled. It would only have been more fitting if he was wearing a cowboy hat.

" _Shut it_." Lio shot Meis a glare that had absolutely no effect. Great — now Galo wasn't the only one who was blushing. He pushed it down as best he could, gathering himself, then turned away from the group to hold his hands out in front of him. "Right. Well, I'll just start the tunnel here. And it's probably going to be slippery, just so everyone is aware."

"These boots are made with grip in mind," Ignis said, indicating his Burning Rescue boots. They didn't seem suited to tundra, but Lio wasn't about to say so.

"Way ahead of you, Boss." Meis held up one shoe for Lio to see — a spiked construct jutted out of the bottom of his boot. He slammed it into the ice to demonstrate and, sure enough, Meis didn't slip when he rocked back and forth.

That was a good idea, actually. Not that Lio was about to say so when Meis was still on his shit list for the next ten minutes or so. He just sighed and summoned flames to his hands. "Let's get this over with," Lio said to no one in particular. Aiming at the ground, he started up a low flame and, gradually, found a good heat to get rid of the ice in front of him as he walked. "Meis," he called, and no other words were exchanged between them.

Walking through his fire, unbothered, Meis took the lead with softer flames of his own and, gradually, Lio began to slope downward. With spike constructs on the soles of his shoes to keep him upright, Lio got to the point where his head was beneath the top of the ice sheet and he let out a shaky breath. Wow. They were actually doing this, huh? He was going to look really stupid if there turned out to be nothing at the bottom of the lake, but that was just a risk that Lio was going to have to take. At least if his paranoia was right and this was all an incredibly elaborate trap, Gueira was still with the others.

A glance over his shoulder confirmed that Galo and Ignis were following, speaking lowly about something that Lio couldn't hear over the rush of fire. Their conversation wasn't any of his business, though. Lio just focused on keeping his flames from getting too hot (" _burn, burn, burn!" his promare cheered him on_ ) and angled their path so as to form a wide spiral. Not too steep, not too sharp. Otherwise, they'd have a hell of a time walking out.

It got darker as they went, of course. Eventually, the sun was blocked out entirely. And they were still going. Down and down and down… Lio knew that his path was sloped shallowly on purpose, but how deep was the lake supposed to be? Their flames became the only light, and Lio focused mindlessly on Meis' silhouette in front of him as they both worked single-mindedly.

Lio was zoning out, actually. Which was probably why he nearly jumped out of his skin when Galo suddenly clapped him on the shoulder. His wrists jerked, and the only reason Lio _didn't_ burn Galo to a crisp was that the texture of his heat-resistant gloves was familiar enough for Lio to remind himself that he wasn't being grabbed by an enemy.

" _Fuck_ ," Lio hissed. If he had a heart, it would have skipped a beat. He tried to glare at Galo, but couldn't manage it very well. It was difficult to be angry with Galo. "Warn me next time. If you sneak up on me again, I'm likely to end up burning you alive."

Galo did not look put off by that, which was— Yeah. About what Lio had expected from a self-sacrificial idiot. "Sorry," he said anyway, which seemed genuine enough. "I was just wondering… How do you have such good control of the flames? Shouldn't they burn his clothes off or singe his hair or something?"

"No," Lio said, turning back to his task to make sure that he was still doing it correctly. "Well, they should, but I don't want them to. Powerful Burnish have more control over their flames than you might think. And others' flames, actually," he added.

"Really?" Galo looked impressed, giving Lio the urge to puff himself up that he steadfastly ignored. "So you can control the flames of other Burnish?"

He took a moment to think about the best way to word this. "Not exactly," Lio admitted. "Generally speaking, the flames connected a person's will — like the flames in their hands and their constructs — belong only to them. In theory, I think a powerful Burnish could override their will, but I've never tried. That would be incredibly authoritarian." He made a face. "But once the flames are released, like, say, a blast of fire aimed at a building, they're free game. If I lit a campfire, Meis would be able to put it out like they were his own. So, to answer your question, his clothes aren't on fire right now because neither of us wants them to burn."

"That's really cool. I didn't know there was so much that went into it," Galo said, grinning. He still had a hand on Lio's shoulder and didn't seem inclined to move it any time soon. "So, how do you—"

Whatever that question was going to be, Lio never heard the rest of it. There was a shift beneath his feet and Lio had a moment to be aware of how thin the ice suddenly was before Meis let out a shout.

The flames cut out immediately as Lio lept forward, scrambling for purchase as he shoved his arm through the hole Meis had fallen through. The only reason he knew what he was reaching for was that he'd kept his hands alight. Why the _fuck_ was there an air pocket beneath so much ice? Lio didn't know, and he didn't care. Meis would survive the fall, probably, but broken legs still hurt like a motherfucker, and watching them heal wasn't pretty.

Lio managed to grab Meis' wrist and gasped reflexively as his arm was yanked painfully. He had a moment where he was aware that he was on ice and losing his purchase rapidly. Then there were hands on his waist, pulling him back. With the entirety of his upper body hanging over the edge, Lio forced himself to calm down. While Ignis and Galo pulled him back up, he grabbed Meis' other wrist to keep him from flailing. They made eye-contact, and the way that Meis calmed down once he saw Lio was making him weak with fondness.

Luckily, Lio and Meis were both built like skeletons, and Galo and Ignis had biceps thicker than their heads. It took one good pull, and then the two of them were stumbling back onto their feet, trying to find purchase on the thin ice before they tripped.

"Are you two okay?" Ignis asked, concern evident on his face as he clapped a hand on Galo's shoulder.

' _Yes,'_ Lio wanted to say, but the words got stuck in his throat. Because when Galo pulled him back up, he'd had his hands around Lio's waist. _All the way_ around Lio's waist. He wasn't proud of the things that realization did to him, seeing Galo's fingers meet around his middle. And now that Lio was standing, he was leaning back against Galo's chest. He could hear Galo's heart hammering away and he wasn't sure which one of them was more flustered.

Of course, Meis recovered quickly. He took one look at Lio, still clinging to his wrists like a lifeline, and grinned. "I think we're doing just fine," he remarked. "Better than fine, even. Say, is that a freeze gun in your pocket, or—?"

"We're fine!" Lio interrupted loudly. He let go of Meis' wrists abruptly and reminded himself that pushing Meis through the hole was a bad idea. Stepping away from Galo, Lio shouldered his way past Meis and approached the edge of the gap they'd made.

"Be careful, Lio," Galo warned, moving closer as though to grab Lio if he fell.

Exasperated (and not permitting himself to be fond when Meis was still looking so smug), Lio held up his hands — which were still on fire. "I can fly, Galo," he said flatly.

"Oh." Galo turned red, a pretty color in the flickering of Lio's flames. "Right. Sorry."

Turning away from the group, Lio shot a small flame through the hole and squinted into the darkness. It was pitch black aside from his fire, so there was no point of reference for when Lio eventually found the bottom. "It looks metal," he said at last. "And there's no way that this air cavity formed naturally, so… Congratulations, Galo. It looks like we found your lab. You aren't crazy, after all." Whether Deus Prometh was inhabiting it or not remained to be seen, but Lio's doubts were fading by the minute.

"How are we going to get down there?" Ignis asked. He was trying to see over Galo and Meis but, to be honest, there wasn't much to see.

"I'll go first," Lio said in a voice that left no room for arguments. "I'll float down, then Meis will follow, then Galo, then you. We'll catch each other. It should be fine."

"Because that inspires _so much_ confidence." Ignis sighed. Lio didn't know him very well, but he could envision Ignis rolling his eyes behind his shades and had to bite back a smile. "And your plan for getting out?"

"Will undoubtedly be exceedingly tedious. But let's focus on one step at a time." Lio couldn't resist giving a cocky salute as he stepped over the edge. "See you at the bottom," he said, and then he fell.

It was a shorter trip to the bottom than Lio anticipated. He let out an involuntary gasp when he hit the top of the hidden bunker, a jolt of pain lacing up his leg as his ankle twisted at an awkward angle. Lio scowled at it, closing his eyes in concentration. The pain faded rapidly as flames twisted around his ankle, like a bandage, before tightening and sinking beneath his clothes and his skin. When the fire went out, Lio could stand perfectly fine again.

He held two hands out, creating flames in a circle around him to illuminate the area. There was nothing that stood out to Lio. The floor beneath him was dark metal — steel, maybe? Or some variant thereof. If he had to, all metal had a melting point so he wasn't too worried about it. He couldn't see far enough to the sides of the lake basin, but Lio wasn't interested in seeing dirt walls. He waited a few more seconds, just to be sure that there was no surprise attack waiting for him, and then looked back up the way he'd come. Lio couldn't see much except for the shadowy hole that he'd fallen out of, little more than a slightly-brighter indent in the ice shelf above his head.

"Alright," Lio called out anyway, certain that he could be heard. "Meis, you can drop." He left the rings of fire in place around him and held his hands out in preparation.

He didn't get a warning — Meis just fell and Lio had a few seconds to process and stick his arms out far enough to catch. Lio grunted in effort. Not because Meis was heavy, just because he'd been surprised.

"Rude." Meis was out of his arms immediately, smacking Lio on the shoulder. "I know for a fact that I'm _not_ that heavy. Are you trying to say that I've put on weight?"

Lio scoffed, flicking Meis on the forehead. His fingers sparked a little with the action, ineffectual though it was. "If I was, then you'd deserve it. _Not a word_ about anything that happened up there to Gueira."

"And what about if something happens down here?" Meis asked thoughtfully. "Because, I gotta say, Boss, I think Galo would be interested in hearing about the sort of things that you can do with your—"

"Galo!" Lio shouted back up the hole, glad for the low light. His face was _burning_ and, if he thought it would do something, he would have set Meis on fire for that. "You can drop now! We'll catch you."

"Cannonball!" Galo called back down jokingly. That was the only warning that they got before Galo fell. He was significantly heavier than Meis but, between the two of them, Lio and Meis stopped his descent with more than enough space between Galo's body and the ground.

Helping Galo to his feet, Lio let his touch linger perhaps a little longer than necessary. "Are you alright? You didn't hit anything, did you?" He knew that Meis was going to tease him for it, but Galo didn't have magic healing and if he accidentally slammed his foot into the ground when they caught him, that was going to take a while to heal.

"Nope, I'm good." Galo stretched out, apparently not noticing Lio's concern. He craned his head back and shouted. "We're ready for you too, Captain!"

Any potential conversation was put on pause as Lio hurried to get into place. Catching Ignis wasn't that hard, with three of them there to do it.

Once all of them were on even ground again, Lio dismissed the ring of fire, leaving flames hovering above their heads to light up a wider area. There were still no noticeable features. Lio saw something glint in the distance, like glass or crystal, maybe, but metal glinted too and he wasn't about to wander off just to see more of the same.

"Alright, Galo, you've been here before," Ignis said. He'd pushed his sunglasses up in order to see better, squinting at the ground as he walked. "Is there a way in from here? It's going to be difficult to find anything with how dark it is."

"Uh…" Galo looked around, twisting this way and that. He frowned. "It's hard to say. When I crashed here with Lio the first time, it was brightly-lit. And Deus' hologram just sort of appeared to let us in," he explained sheepishly.

"It just "appeared," huh?" Meis looked less than impressed as he gestured around at a whole lot of nothing. "Well, we came all the way here. Where's our fucking welcoming committee?"

" _You could try asking politely."_ A sudden, computerized voice interrupted them.

Lio was not proud of the way that he jumped. Normally, he was difficult to rattle, but he had nothing to warn him this time. He immediately skirted a few feet back, the flames he'd been holding above them going out and plunging them all into darkness. At least for a few seconds, anyway, because then a flickering hologram illuminated the four of them weakly.

It was oddly shaped, was the first thing that Lio noticed. Instead of a hologram of Dr. Prometh's face, like Lio had been expecting, it was a loose amalgamation of different polygons that were in constant flux. It looked sort of like the hologram was constantly on the verge of coming apart. There were eyes, sort of, which helped somewhat.

To be honest, the whole situation was just getting more bizarre by the moment.

The only one who wasn't surprised was Galo. He waved good-naturedly like he was greeting an old friend. "Sorry about that. Hey, can you let us in? Please?" Galo asked. "We wanna talk about saving the world."

The expression on the hologram's voice didn't change, but his tone was undeniably confused. " _This is a surprising turn of events,"_ Deus said finally. Despite that, a section of the roof began to pull back, revealing a set of stairs leading down into the darkened lab. " _I suppose I might as well — I know that none of you are working with Kray. And I have a few questions of my own that I'd like answered. We'll talk more in the main lab."_ And with his part said, he winked out of existence.

For a long moment, no one moved. Then Lio held out his hand with a weary sigh and held up a flame to help them see. "Well," he said dryly, "I suppose we've been invited in."

That was a lot easier than Lio thought it would be. How did Deus know that none of them were working with Kray? Hadn't he been dead and trapped under the ice for a decade or more now? Come to think of it, how had he even become a hologram? Actually, Lio didn't care. If he kept thinking with no answers to go on, he was just going to end up giving himself a headache.

"Down it is, then," Ignis agreed. He took the lead, Lio following with the light source and Galo and Meis taking up the rear.

Behind them, the entrance to the lab closed again. Lio fought off a wave of paranoia. He knew that, at this point, the idea that he was being led into an elaborate trap was nothing short of insane. There'd been dozens of opportunities to capture him at this point. But that didn't keep him from considering it. He was just _worried_. This was it — all the answers they needed, locked in this underground lab. Lio's anxiety was spiking and he forcibly tapped it down. Even with that, though, he couldn't help but be a little excited.

They followed the stairs down and down and down, a tense silence settling over their group. Maybe it was the flickering fire as their only source of light, or the narrow walkway, or the oppressive knowledge about just how deep they were, but no one felt very talkative. It felt, to Lio, like they were all holding their breaths. Waiting. For what, though? Even his promare was trembling with nervous energy. Could it feel what Lio was experiencing, or was it upset about something else?

The stairwell emptied out into a hallway that was only slightly wider, with several doors that didn't have handles and didn't open when they were passed. Uncertainty made Ignis' pace slow, and Galo took over leading the group without seeming to realize that he was doing it. He led them down a left turn, past more unmarked doors, and stepped into an open elevator shaft. The elevator was already waiting for them, circular in shape and mostly made of glass to allow for an outside view. Lio wasn't sure what the point was — he looked through the window while the elevator took them down, but at all he saw was a vast expanse of darkness.

There was enough light now for him to put out the flame in his hand, but it was a close thing. The lights were dim and yellowed, like fluorescent bulbs that hadn't been used in years. And, Lio realized, that was probably exactly the problem. He didn't imagine that a hologram would be very good at basic upkeep.

The elevator stopped at the bottom floor. As the four of them disembarked, lights all over the room lit up dully. Although, calling it a "room" was doing it an incredible disservice. It was easily the size of a football field, and just as empty. Lio imagined that, once, Deus had planned to have all sorts of lab equipment and researchers here. There was none of that, just unused space and a lot of dust, twisting lazily through the air almost like snow flurries.

Galo automatically made a beeline for the end of the room, where one wall was covered in monitors of various sizes, circular in shape. Lio found it to be remarkably pointless, but he could appreciate the aesthetic of the architecture anyway. He glanced over at Meis, shrugged, and followed Galo across the room.

Once they got close to the far wall, Deus' hologram flickered back into existence. It was much bigger than before, dominating the space in front of them, but his voice was no less gentle. " _Well, this is awkward,"_ he said, and actually seemed embarrassed. " _I had a whole monologue prepared on the off-chance that anyone ever found this place, but considering how easily you all managed that, I imagine that you don't need to hear it."_

There was silence for a moment. It was difficult to figure out what to say. Taking a page from Galo's book, the day before, Lio tried, "We should introduce ourselves. I'm—"

" _Lio Fotia. Yes, I'm aware,"_ Deus cut him off. Behind them, one of the screens lit up. It showed Lio riding Detroit through downtown Promepolis. Dozens of more similar recordings were shown on the other monitors, taken at different angles all throughout Promepolis. The central screen showed Lio arriving at Foresight Pharmaceuticals, glancing at the security camera above him before destroying it with an innocuous blast of fire. " _I've been connected to all of Promepolis for years now. Nothing happens in the city that I'm not aware of. However, I am admittedly at a loss for how you knew about this place. Lio Fotia, Galo Thymos, Ignis Ex…"_ He paused. " _Meis."_

Biting back a grin, Meis inclined his head in acknowledgment. "Howdy," he quipped.

"It's a long story," Lio sighed. He really didn't want to go over all of this for the third time, but, well… When needs must, and all that.

"I met you before, in the future," Galo cut in. "You explained the truth about the promare, then you gave Lio and me your giant robot and sent us off to stop Kray and save the world. But he ended up killing us, then I woke up in my bed like nothing happened. And I'm the only one who seems to remember any of it."

" _I see,"_ was all Deus said, sounding completely unaffected. He ruminated on this information for a few moments more and then replied, " _Very well. As far as possible candidates go, you're actually one of the better ones."_

At that point, Ignis had put his shades back into place, but Lio could imagine his eyes bulging out when he said, " _Really_? You're going to accept that story, just like that? You don't have any other questions?"

" _Why should I?"_ Deus asked, unbothered. " _At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. In fact, this is a welcome turn of events. If you've met me before, Galo Thymos, then I assume that I explained the nature of the Burnish and the promare to you. And based on your characterization, I find it safe to assume that you've explained it all to the others. Which means that we can skip the talk and get right to the giant robot, doesn't it?"_

Before Galo could jump the gun and agree, Lio set a hand on his shoulder and took a step forward. "We're not here to launch an attack against Kray," Lio said patiently. "At least, not now. We'll need your help in the future but, given how it went the first time, we've agreed that an all-out assault with no real plan will only end in disaster."

Deus stared at him for what felt like a long time. " _Then,"_ he said at last, " _what are you here for? What is it that you want, Lio Fotia?"_

And what an excellent question that was. Lio couldn't find the words. What _did_ he want? A future for the Burnish that didn't involve persecution, obviously, but he got that feeling that Deus wasn't asking about his life goal.

What did Lio want at the moment? What had he come down here for? And what was he going to do now that everything Galo had told him had proven to be true?

Lio thought. And he thought and thought and thought some more. The more he thought, though, the angrier he got. He wasn't sure why, at first. Fire was building in Lio's chest and he felt like he was going to scream if he didn't let it out.

Then it hit him.

"What I _want,_ " he snarled, "are some goddamn _answers_. _Why_? If you're connected to all of Promepolis, why didn't you try to reach anyone sooner? Why didn't you sabotage Kray's work yourself? Why did you wait a decade frozen beneath the ice in the first place? What is the _fucking point_ of all of this?"

The answer didn't take Deus very long to puzzle out. Lio supposed, bitterly, that a decade of time alone to think would do that to a person. " _Why not?"_ He offered at last, and Lio could picture him shrugging. Deus was lucky that he was a hologram, otherwise, Lio would have choked him out for that. " _When I was alive, I programmed some of my knowledge and personality into a computer as a failsafe. Tensions were high after the Great World Blaze and my research sought out to prove that Burnish were not as different as fearmongers would lead you to believe. My goal was to learn more about the Burnish — ignorance is the greatest cause of fear. Many opposed my efforts. I felt that, at some point, an attempt would be made on my life. I was getting up in my years, anyway, and I didn't want to die without finishing my life's work. This lab was going to be a research facility, once upon a time. It was top secret. I had finally gotten permission from the government to take my Burnish studies to the next level."_ He paused. " _And then I died."_

Poor-quality security camera footage played on loop behind Deus' hologram. Lio didn't understand the context, but the evidence was clear as day: Kray Foresight shot Deus Prometh in the head. It was a good shot, Lio noted sardonically. No hesitation, no trembling. Right between the eyes. As painless an execution as possible.

" _When my vitals ceased,"_ Deus continued, " _the AI that I programmed into this facility — the one you are speaking to now — activated. I was programmed with only one real mission: to complete Deus Prometh's life work. So I did. I continued to study the origin of the Burnish and discovered the promare, as well as their connection to the Earth's core. I perfected the Promatech mod, I made one with no risk of harming the user. And after that, I had no objective. I waited. And I did nothing."_

"You did _nothing_?" Galo demanded, incensed. Apparently, Lio wasn't the only one getting riled up — around him, Galo, Meis, and Ignis were equally furious. "You just admitted that you could have saved the world years ago! And you just chose not to?" He gaped.

" _Yes, exactly."_ The eyes that Deus didn't need blinked down at them, and Lio had never felt more righteous or more insignificant. " _I wasn't programmed to do anything about it. I built the Deus X Machina and kept an eye on Promepolis out of boredom. I don't care what happens to the Earth. I left no one behind that I cared about. If the Earth dies, so do I. And if it doesn't, then nothing changes. I continue to exist like this."_ Even without a face, Deus managed to frown. Lio wasn't sure why, and he didn't care enough to ask.

"That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard!" Meis flung his hands up dramatically. "So you're saying that the Burnish have continued to suffer and the Earth has been on a ticking time bomb just because you _didn't give a shit enough to do anything about it_?"

Deus made a noise that was almost amused. " _Yes. I am a machine, not a hero,"_ he said.

And, oh fuck, if Lio hadn't wanted to kill him before, he was certainly thinking about it now. "This is… _reprehensible_ ," he spat, fists shaking and glare leveled at the ground.

There was a hand on his shoulder. Not Galo's — not this time, unfortunately. Ignis gave a reassuring pat and turned to Deus, his hand dropping away. "What's in the past is in the past," he said evenly, though his voice was clipped and his scowl was obvious with his shades still pushed out of the way. "What matters now is what we can do now that this information is available to us. Before we make any sort of battle plan, I think we should confirm… Is Kray Foresight Burnish, then?"

" _Of course."_ Deus' hologram made a funny little movement, and… Wait. Lio bristled. Did that motherfucker just _roll his eyes? "Who do you think I used to help with my Burnish studies? Kray Foresight was an undergraduate student of mine. He had his awakening in private and managed to control it enough that it was passed off as a small kitchen fire. He confided in me because he knew of my sympathetic views, but asked that it was kept private. So we conducted our experiments in absolute secrecy. Of all the people to end up killing me, I never expected that it might be Kray. To this day, I have no idea what changed."_

"Wait," Galo cut in. His eyes were blown wide. "You _knew_? You knew that Kray was Burnish _this whole time_ and you—?" Anger hit fast and hard. Suddenly, Galo looked one wrong word away from killing someone. "The first time that you gave Lio and me the Deus X Machina, you didn't say anything about Kray being Burnish! You didn't give us any sort of warning at all! If we'd known that ahead of time, he wouldn't have been able to surprise us. If we'd known, _Lio wouldn't have died_!"

Lio almost pointed out that Galo died as well, but he got the feeling that Galo hadn't forgotten. He set a hand on Galo's chest to steady him. "It's alright," he soothed before turning a hard look to Deus' hologram. "As Ignis said, what's in the past is in the past. We know better this time. So…" He took a deep breath. "This is still helpful. We can use this."

"What are you thinking, Boss?" Meis asked. He was still scowling at Deus. Lio really wished that he'd brought some of that paper with them — it felt like they could both use a good burn.

"Right now? Things that are impolite to say with our current company." Lio sighed and let his hand fall away from Galo. Otherwise, he might just end up leaving it. "In terms of a battle strategy? I think the smartest thing is to wait. We still have six months, give or take, to plan this. A week at the very least. I think we can use all the time we can get considering what we're going up against. Aina was supposed to get in contact with Heris, so we'll see how that goes first. If we can convince Heris to sabotage the Parnassus, that will be a huge help. We might be able to avoid fighting Kray altogether. Or, at least, we can lure him away from his office and onto more even ground where we'll have the advantage." He bit his lip thoughtfully, the gears in his mind spinning. "... This visit wasn't a practical one from the beginning. We just needed to confirm Galo's story. And now that we have, I don't see any reason to return until we're ready to use the robot. _If_ we need to use it. It would be best to avoid an all-out battle."

" _That would be the smartest thing,"_ Deus agreed absently. Lio had to physically bite his tongue to keep from snapping, ' _I don't remember asking for your opinion,'_ or something similarly rude. Amoral jackass or not, Deus was still potentially useful. Staying in his good graces was the right thing to do here, not get high-and-mighty and morally grand-stand to someone who wouldn't give a shit. " _Kray Foresight is the second most powerful Burnish I've ever come across. And I have had an_ awfully _long time to look. A frontal assault is more than likely going to end in your own deaths, or worse."_

The second most powerful, huh? Lio didn't need to ask to know who else Deus was talking about. He grimaced. Even if he beat Kray out in terms of sheer power, that wasn't enough to win a fight. Much as he hated to leave his fellow Burnish in Kray's hands, getting himself killed or captured wasn't going to help them.

"I think that settles what we came here for," Ignis said at last. He took hold of Galo's arm and tugged him back a few steps since it was clear that Galo was still trying to work through the logistics of beating the shit out of a hologram.

A part of Lio was eager to take any opportunity to leave— But then he considered it.

"You all go on ahead," he said without turning his head. The receding footsteps of the rest of the group paused. "I want to ask Dr. Prometh something. In private, please."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lio saw Meis shrug. "Whatever you say, Boss," he replied, which was Meis' way of saying, " _You are absolutely going to tell me what this is about once we're alone."_

Galo was the only one who hesitated. "You sure, Lio?" He asked, taking a step closer. "I can stay with you if you want."

Actually, Lio thought that Galo would end up punching something if he hung around Deus any longer than he already had. "I'm fine," Lio said with a reassuring smile over his shoulder. "Go on ahead, Galo. I'll catch up."

"I guess…" He looked far from convinced, but Galo also didn't argue. He nodded, sending one last heated glare Deus before turning to catch up with Meis and Ignis.

Only once they were out of sight did Lio face forward again, his expression hard.

"This lab was built under the ice because it was meant for Burnish experimentation, isn't that right?" Lio asked mildly. "The ice… it's artificially made. And these walls, I bet you made them with tungsten, didn't you?"

" _Right on all counts,"_ Deus confirmed. " _Does it bother you?"_

' _Yes,'_ Lio wanted to say, but he held his tongue. This wasn't Kray's arctic prison. This was for consenting research. Safety precautions had to be taken, even if the end result was that some of the rooms ended up looking like prison cells. Lio shook his head. "No, it doesn't. Actually, I think it's useful," he admitted. "If we can capture Kray, it's going to be difficult to contain him. And I can't kill him." Much as Lio wanted to. Even if it would make so many things easier. He'd promised himself a long time ago: no one else was going to die by his hands. Never again. "If we could get him here, do you have a room that can hold him?" He asked.

Another favor. Lio was asking for a lot of those recently. He supposed that it should have bothered him, but it didn't. He was adult enough to accept that he couldn't do everything alone. If it was for his people, Lio would do just about anything, even if it sacrificed his pride.

Deus took a moment to think about it. " _I could have a suitable prison prepared by the time you managed to bring him here,"_ he said at last. " _So you have access to the Deus X Machina as well as a theoretical prison cell for Kray Foresight. Is that all you wanted?"_

The question threw Lio for a loop: not because he didn't have anything else on his mind, but because he couldn't figure out Deus' motives for asking. What did he care? Did he just want Lio to stick around a few seconds more so he wouldn't be so _bored_?

"No," Lio admitted. "The truth is, I…" He glanced over his shoulder, just to make sure that they were really alone. All the way to the elevator, illuminated weakly at the end of the room, there wasn't another soul to be seen. Tucked deep underground in the mountains and talking to a dead man, Lio felt that this was the safest place he was going to get to vent without anyone knowing. "Do you believe in fate?" He asked at last.

" _Fate?"_ For once Deus seemed taken aback, though he recovered quickly. " _No. Fate and destiny have no proof of existence. Like religion, they're fundamentally just theories that our uneducated ancestors used to explain the world around them. People like to pretend that there's a grand scheme in mind, a special place in the universe just for them. It makes them feel better about their inevitable death. It helps make it easier to accept morality and it's used as an excuse. People lie to themselves — tell themselves that their lives will mean something once they're dead."_

Lio blinked. "You have a lot to say about the topic."

He could imagine Deus shrugging his shoulders. " _I lived for close to eighty years. I have a lot to say about many things."_

"I only ask because I can't figure out how Galo managed to travel back in time. Or, see the future. Whichever it is." Lio shook his head with frustration. "It should be impossible. There's certainly no precedent for time travel existing."

" _No, there's not,"_ Deus agreed. " _Spatial manipulation, though… Well, if the promare can open a wormhole, then time travel isn't too much of a stretch. They're already half-way there."_

That did little to help. Actually, it just left Lio more confused. "But Galo's not Burnish. So… what, the promare just put him back in time? _Why_? Why would they care?" He demanded. "And if they are responsible, why would they choose Galo and not me?" (The voices in the back of his mind did not concede any answers. Their laughter remained unchanged.)

" _How should I know? It seems like something you'll have to ask them yourself,"_ Deus said dismissively.

As if talking to his promare was even possible for Lio. He clenched his jaw in frustration. "There's one last thing I want to know before I leave," he said as evenly as possible. "Galo did his best to explain this, but I want to know, in detail… Why is the Earth in danger? What is it about the nature of the promare that makes them so dangerous and volatile?"

If Lio had been born in a different place, a different time… Would he still have these _urges_? Would he still end up hurting people regardless?

" _The promare are sentient life forms that exist in a parallel universe that synced with ours some thirty years ago,"_ Deus began. Lio nodded along. So far, things that he already knew. " _The center of this spacetime distortion is in the Earth's core. The promare access our universe through it. The electromagnetic waves that allow them to have consciousness leak through this hole as well. When that happens, powerful ones can travel very far. Once they reach the surface, they may find a human's consciousness that they can sync with. As far as I can tell, the promare don't do this intentionally. High stress and high emotion scenarios make the process easier, which is why Burnish awakenings tend to be either very angry or very sad."_

Thinking about his own awakening wasn't helping him focus. Lio shook his head to clear it. "And that affects the Earth's core temperature because…?" He pressed.

" _It's not a matter of temperature at all."_ Deus seemed disgusted by the very suggestion, having apparently forgotten that Lio hadn't studied this subject for over a decade like he had. " _The Earth is in danger because there's too much motion. The mantle is fluctuating violently, and the reason why is the promare's connection with the Burnish. See, although the promare can resonate with you despite the distance, they have not actually left the core. That doesn't mean that the connection isn't powerful, though. They feel what the Burnish feel. Intense emotions and physical agony all affect the promare. And when the promare lash out, all they're doing is kicking up the mantle. Thus, volcanic activity increases, more and more, until it eventually reaches a point that the Earth's crust can't keep letting out all of that pressure in little trickles. The biggest eruption in Earth's history caused rapid climate change and mass extinction. If the promare continue to build as they are now, the disaster will not even be comparable. The planet will be obliterated. Maybe that's what they want,"_ Deus mused. " _It would put an end to the promare's agony, at any rate."_

Then it clicked. Lio's eyes widened, then narrowed. He swallowed his existential crisis, imagining all of the pain he had unintentionally put his promare through, and said, "Just because you wish you were dead doesn't mean that everyone else does." Lio turned on his heel and stalked off toward the elevator. "We're going to succeed. The human race still has one last ace up its sleeve."

He couldn't see it, but Lio _swore_ that Deus smiled. " _Then I wish you luck, Lio Fotia."_ The lights dimmed and, even without looking, Lio knew that he was alone.

* * *

By the time they got out from beneath the ice (which was, as Lio had promised, a tedious process that involved him making several trips to fly up with Ignis, Galo, and Meis one at a time), the sun had set. After how long they'd spent under the ice and in that darkened lab, Lio couldn't help but be a little disappointed. The fresh air was nice, but he missed the sun.

"Alright," Meis said once they'd stepped onto solid ice again. He cracked his back with a wince, grimacing. The climb back up had been noticeably more difficult than the trip down. "Guess we ought to get going, Boss. Gueira's gotta be shitting himself by now."

"Wait." Lio held a hand up to stop Meis, who had already started walking off. "Tomorrow, Galo is supposed to have a meeting with Kray."

"Oh, right." Galo made a face. "I'd almost managed to forget about that. Thanks, Lio."

He shot Galo a sarcastic smile (and absolutely did not find it adorable when Galo stuck his tongue out in response) before turning back to Meis. "I want you to relay everything we discussed to Gueira. I'll stay the night near Promepolis so that I can observe Kray first-hand. I should only be gone for the afternoon. If it takes any longer, I'll leave you a message at the oasis. Once I return, we should be safe to move everyone back into the settlement," Lio said.

"You wanna stay in Promepolis?" Galo was practically vibrating with excitement. "That's so cool! You can stay at my place, Lio. Oh, I've got this movie I bet you'd love. And we can swing by my favorite pizza place, too! There's this arcade nearby that—"

Ignis sighed, nudging Galo with his elbow. "He's here for business, Galo," he said patiently. "Given that the Burnish are persecuted in Promepolis, I think the safest thing would be for him to stay at Burning Rescue. Or possibly on the outskirts of the city, if he doesn't mind sleeping outside."

And that was a good point. Really, the only point that Lio needed. He had camped before. He could manage one night beneath the stars. Except… Galo looked genuinely dejected. Plus, the idea of spending the night with him was doing warm, fuzzy things to Lio's chest. He opened his mouth, and—

"Give us a sec." Meis looped an arm around Lio's and dragged him several feet away. Literally, dragged him. Lio dug his feet in stubbornly but they were on a frozen lake so, obviously, that didn't have much effect. When they were far enough away to hopefully be fine, Meis whirled around and whispered, "Look, Boss, I know that Gueira and I have been making a lot of horny jokes, but _please_ tell me that you're not seriously going to…" He tilted his head toward Galo.

Lio scrunched up his face in distaste. "Of course not," he replied just as quietly. Not that the idea itself didn't appeal to him, but Lio couldn't imagine a less ideal time. "Even if I did, I…" Lio hesitated. "I've never had sex with a non-Burnish," he admitted. "I think that I would end up hurting him. And Galo has enough burns already."

The first lesson that you learned as a Burnish was that the flames tended to act up in high-emotion moments. In one-night stands and flings that he'd had on a whim, Lio often ended up setting either his partner or his surroundings on fire. Sex was intimate, even with a stranger. It was emotionally taxing, too. Lio had never had sex with someone that he was romantically interested in. God, the idea was just… It would be disastrous, trying to have sex with Galo. He would probably die.

"Okay. That's good, then." Meis looked a little placated, obviously having pieced together the same conclusion that Lio did. He still looked far from appeased. "But you are going to stay the night with him." It wasn't a question.

Trying to look nonchalant, Lio shrugged. "Why not?" He replied mildly. "Galo offered, and I need a couch to crash on. It's for one night. It's a convenient location." And _maybe_ a part of Lio wanted to spend some time with Galo that didn't include people's lives depending on them. It was just one night. Lio hoped that he wasn't asking for too much.

Meis gave him an exasperated look. "You realize that I'm going to tell Gueira this and he's not going to shut up about it for _hours_ whenever you get back, right?"

"This is a calculated risk, but I accept the potential dangers," Lio agreed with a nod.

"You're the boss for a reason." Meis punched him playfully in the shoulder. "And don't worry, I won't tell him that you blushed like a virgin when you realized that Galo could get his hands all the way around your waist. Stay safe, Boss." Before Lio could set him on fire, he found Meis hugging him. Lio returned it, but only because he knew that "stay safe" wasn't a condom joke. At least, not this time.

When they pulled back, Lio gave Meis a nudge with his hip. "Tell Gueira that I miss him, alright?" He said.

Already walking away, Meis waved at Lio over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. See you when you get back! And don't go too crazy, you hear?" He hollered, loud enough that there was no way Galo and Ignis missed it.

Despite that, Lio's expression was fond as he watched Meis get to the shore. He summoned Dallas and was off, disappearing into the trees without so much as a glance back. Lio didn't blame him — looking back only made it harder to move forward.

Once he was gone, Lio turned and went back over to join Galo and Ignis. "So," Lio said conversationally, "I think I'll be needing a place to stay tonight after all. Galo, you offered?"

Like he'd just been waiting for permission, Galo grinned, grabbing Lio's hand. "Yeah! C'mon, we'll take my bike back this time. I've got this shirt you can wear to sleep, if you don't wanna wear your leather. It's got flames on it, and it sort of reminds me of you, with the colors."

As Galo led him off, rambling all the while, Lio shot an exasperated look over his shoulder. Ignis caught his stare and shrugged, barely suppressing a smile. Despite his best attempts, Lio was grinning too. Yeah. He could pretend to be annoyed but, at the end of the day, Galo's endless enthusiasm was genuinely touching.

Lio spent enough time being serious and composed for everyone else's benefit. He tried not to feel too guilty about having a night for himself and let Galo lead the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually going to turn into a character study for every character and I'm not apologizing.


	8. Empty Mattresses and Falling Stars — My, How They Start to Look the Same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "I'm Low On Gas And You Need A Jacket" by Pierce the Veil. The song as a whole is about how, even though he wants to be there for this girl, it feels like he's being yanked around and he can't keep being at her beck and call. But the line for this title, specifically, speaks to me of longing. No matter how many times he's wished for her embrace at night, the bed stays empty. This lyric is from Lio's POV, but it's not so much about Galo as it is about loneliness in general. Lio spends a lot of time alone.

Despite his confidence when discussing the issue with Meis, Lio was on edge as soon as Promepolis came into view. Riding on the back of Galo's bike, Lio ducked his head and only saw snippets of the city lights flicker through his hair. Promepolis at night was more familiar to him — Lio had raided buildings toward the outskirts for food and supplies in the past.

He hated to admit it but, in its own way, the city was beautiful. A little too rigid, too uniform, too minimalist… But Lio was begrudgingly able to see the appeal. He wanted a city, too. A city where the Burnish could be themselves without fear of persecution.

Galo wove through downtown at exactly the speed limit, cutting between the gaps in cars to minimize how often they had to stop. The trip didn't take very long. He stopped outside of a bright red firehouse — and if that wasn't enough of a clue, then the enormous FDPP lettering going down the front was a dead giveaway.

"You didn't want me to sleep at Burning Rescue…" Lio began, amused, "...so your solution was to bring me to Burning Rescue?"

"No! I mean, not exactly." Galo turned red, craning his head to look at Lio over his shoulder, then swung off of his bike. "I stay in the lodging house." He pointed to the much-less flashy, modest rectangular building of dull brick and glass that was right next door. "It's really just for emergency dispatches. No one's used it in ages so I basically have the whole building to myself even though there's a bunch of rooms."

Huh. Well, that was certainly convenient. Lio had been worried about one of them having to sleep on the couch, so this was one problem solved. They could sleep several floors apart if they wanted to. A part of Lio was berating himself for thinking about sleeping near a stranger, but that wasn't what had him wanting to be near Galo. It wasn't even sleeping with Galo that was appealing. Lio hadn't fallen asleep alone in years. He always at least had Gueira or Meis with him. Sometimes he slept in a pile of other bodies. If something happened, Lio didn't want there to be several floors between himself and Galo, or even a single hallway. That would do nothing but waste time and make it more difficult for Lio to ensure that Galo was still alive.

That was his paranoia, though, he knew. Everything would be fine. Lio knew they hadn't been followed, and why would they be? He didn't look like anyone special, and Galo was a trusted citizen. If worse came to worse, Lio could just pretend that he was a hooker or something. The thought made him bite back a chuckle.

He took the hand that Galo offered, getting to his feet on the sidewalk. "I guess you never have to worry about being late to work," Lio remarked, looking up at the buildings towering above them. They really were right next to each other — nothing more than an alley between them. He made a mental note of that. It could be useful one day.

"Yeah, and it saves me money on transportation, too!" Galo agreed. "Give me a minute to put my bike inside of HQ's garage and then we can head up."

Dragging his bike up onto the sidewalk, Galo pushed it over to Burning Rescue's impressively large garage doors. Given how big their trucks were, Lio wasn't surprised. He waited near the curb while Galo punched in a security pin for the door. He lifted it manually, just far enough up that he could tuck his bike inside and then close and lock the garage easily behind him.

Galo bounded back over to him when he was done and Lio couldn't help but smile. "Where did you live before this?" He asked as they started walking. "I mean, you told us that your parents…" Lio winced. "Shit. Sorry, that was completely insensitive. You don't have to answer that."

"No, it's fine," Galo assured him. He stopped to pull a keyring out of one of the pouches at his hip, using it to unlock the front of the lodging house. With its big, glass doors and sleek interior, it looked to Lio like any other apartment building. "I've only been working with Burning Rescue for nine months. Before that, I had a small place near the outskirts of the city that I really only used for sleeping. I was always on the move, you know? If I wasn't doing practical studies or getting volunteer hours in, then I took as many hours at this fast food place nearby as I could. Every penny helps, right?" Galo joked.

He finally managed to unlock the front of the building and ushered Lio inside before locking it behind them. There was a comfy-looking sitting area and several fake potted plants. The receptionist desk at the far end, near the elevators, was covered in dust and the computer on top of it must have been close to ten years old.

"And before that, I was in foster care," Galo continued. "I was only there for a few years. I struck out on my own when I was sixteen. Hey, what floor do you want to sleep on? My room's at the very top, just 'cause I like the view."

"Um, the top floor is fine," Lio said distractedly. He could fly, so escape would be simple. Being so high up would only serve as an inconvenience for any potential attackers. He followed Galo to the elevators, still trying to catch up. His mind had hit a snag. "Hold on, you left foster care at the age of sixteen? And they let you do that?"

That got him an uninterested shrug: like Galo didn't give a shit that he'd lost his parents at a very young age and had, apparently, been taking care of himself mostly alone ever since. "Sure, why not? I made an arrangement with my caseworker and they sort of paid for my housing until I was eighteen." Galo hit the button for the top floor and the elevator closed behind them with a rickety groan before lurching into motion. "I wanted to get into Burning Rescue as soon as I could, but they had this law that you have to be twenty-one to join." He rolled his eyes, again showing _absolutely no self-preservation whatsoever._ "It wasn't all bad, though. It gave me a lot of time to memorize all of the things I needed to know to pass those tests. And I ended up saving a lot of money. It's not like I was spending most of it, since my only interest was firefighting," Galo said sheepishly.

He was beaming with pride, and clearly wanted Lio to agree, but… All Lio could do was stare. "Galo," he said finally, "that's… really sad."

"Sad?" Galo looked offended. "How's it sad? I'm doing what I love and I got here on my own, through hard work!" He pumped his fist in determination. "I know it wasn't easy, Lio, but my soul burns the brightest when I've got something to prove! I would hate it if it'd been boring."

Lio opened his mouth and then closed it, lips pursed. Galo seemed so genuine about that and Lio didn't want to ruin it by explaining. He found it sad that Galo had dedicated his life to his job. Didn't he have hobbies? Friends? Anything he wanted to achieve outside of firefighting? It seemed so dull. And Galo had done it all alone, too. No parents, no family, apparently no one in the foster system who gave a damn if they were that eager to get rid of him. He'd had Kray, sort of, and now Galo knew that it had been an act the whole time and Kray never cared about him, either.

It was like looking into a mirror. Ever since Lio had been forced to make it on his own, at the tender age of eight, he'd been alone. Before Mad Burnish, all Lio had for permanent company was his promare. But at least that was _something_. The voices, while not eloquent, were enough for Lio to remind himself that he wasn't alone. That it mattered to someone else if he died or not. What had Galo had, other than his wide-eyed, rose-tinted view of the world?

No one around him had ever actually cared. Why didn't that tear him up inside?

"Galo…" Lio started. But there were too many things he wanted to say and they all got stuck in his throat at once. ' _You don't have to do this alone anymore,'_ and, ' _Don't you have any other dreams?'_ and ' _You have no idea how loved you are, I'm only sorry that it took this long for you to have a family.'_ He shook his head. Licking his lips, Lio settled on, "I get it. I can't really lecture you when I'm the same."

There were a few tense seconds of silence. It seemed like Galo was going to ask him to elaborate, but it never came. The elevator dinged as they arrived at the top floor and Lio automatically stepped out. Galo followed him in silence, then overtook Lio to stop at a door near the end of the hall.

"This is my place," he said, hand on the doorknob. Galo hesitated. "You don't have to stay the night with me if you don't want to. But I figured that I could give you something comfortable to wear to bed, and maybe some food. I don't have the keys to the other places in here, but—"

"I can pick locks, Galo," Lio assured him. "It's no problem. Thank you."

Despite the awkward bump in the conversation earlier, the smile that Galo gave him was genuine. "In that case, make yourself at home. For the minute that it'll take me to get you some pajamas, anyway." He slid the key to his apartment into the lock and flung the door open with his usual bravado.

It was pretty small, all things considered. The living area joined with the kitchen and there was a fold-up table that could seat two attached to the counter. The furniture came with the place and was old, but in good condition, boxy and plain and nothing like the sort of things Lio figured Galo would spend his money on.

"The bedroom's a little more decorated than this…" Galo said sheepishly. "Oh, uh, you can use my shower too, if you want. I don't know if the other rooms will have running water. And I've got some shampoo and stuff that you can use."

A warm shower? Lio thought about Meis and Gueira sleeping in a cave, waiting for him, and his chest squeezed with guilt. He opened his mouth to refuse… Then paused. This whole night was a selfish desire, anyway. Lio was really only here for Galo. He could sleep in the dirt just fine. He mentally argued with himself. How much selfishness was he allotted here? Shouldn't he shower anyway, just to make sure that he was clean for the others that he was going to be meeting with? Being in the city meant that he had to look the part, after all. Or was that just an excuse? Did it balance out, if Lio took the shower but slept on a different floor or something?

"Lio?" Galo tried, snapping him out of it. He reached to set a hand on Lio's shoulder, only for Lio to lurch into sudden motion and step out of range at the last second.

"Yes," Lio blurted out before he could freeze up again. He cleared his throat. "I mean, a shower sounds nice, Galo. Thank you. I'll try not to use up much of your hot water."

Galo waved dismissively. "It's fine, I shower in the mornings." He pointed at his ridiculously spiked hair, still as immaculate as it had been that morning, despite all the driving they'd been doing. "Makes it easier to style. So go on, knock yourself out. I'll dig up some clothes for you and put them on the counter, just leave the door unlocked."

He nodded and before he could change his mind, Lio let Galo lead him toward the bathroom. "Thanks again," he said, flicking the light on and shutting the door behind him before Galo could say something stupid and charming, like " _don't mention it,"_ or, " _anytime,"_ or, " _anything for you."_

The bathroom was compact, like the living room. The counter, though, was absolutely _covered_ in hair products. Lio blinked. The shower didn't have a rack or any lip to place shampoo or body wash, so Lio assumed that Galo just left all of his products on the counter until he needed to use them. Lio made a face, picking them up one at a time and settling the bottles back just where he'd found them. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, but if Galo had a system, then Lio didn't want to ruin it.

He was looking for shampoo, or even just body wash. Lio wasn't very concerned about his hair. But instead, what he found was bottle after bottle of everything _except_ what he was looking for. Water-based pomade, hair paste with a matte finish, sculpting clay, hair wax, texture powder, hair styling cream, mousse, serum, texture paste… Lio had no fucking idea what any of these things did, or why Galo needed so _many_ of them.

Frustrated, Lio finally picked one at random and walked over to the shower with it. It didn't really matter what he used, right? Lio just wanted to get clean. He unstrapped his many belts, the clasps on his pants, his boots, the buttons on his jackets… After a solid minute of struggling with his layers, Lio had everything off. He folded it up and set it on the counter by the sink, sort of squished next to Galo's hair products. With that done, Lio cranked up the water as hot as it would go. He couldn't feel the temperature unless it was scalding, anyway.

Once Lio could feel the heat from the water, he got in. And immediately relaxed. He pushed his damp hair back out of his face and the knots in his body unwound as he sighed in contentment. If he had something to burn, the night would be one of the most relaxing he'd had in a while. A light coating of dirt came off of his body, turning the water grey before it swirled away down the drain. Lio made a face. _Gross_. Note to self: when this was over, install a bathhouse wherever the Burnish ended up. He figured that temporary housing would be necessary for a while, but Lio wasn't going to settle for water that was less than _boiling_.

There was a polite knock on the door. "Hey, Lio," Galo said, muffled through the wood, "I'm just gonna open the door a crack and set the clothes down, I promise not to look."

If he did look, Lio honestly didn't care, but he found the modesty sort of cute. The shower was glass, so Lio said nothing and watched, amused, as the door inched open _just_ enough for Galo's arm to reach inside, shirt and pants in hand. He tossed the clothes onto the counter, chucked in a towel on top of them, then yanked back as though burned, shutting the door behind him quickly.

Lio sighed again — that time, the noise was fond. If only Galo was fireproof… And the fate of the world wasn't on their shoulders.

Using the product that was in the tin he'd picked out before, Lio lathered and rinsed his hair. Whatever it was, it smelled strongly of scotch. He found that he didn't dislike it all that much — it was something he hardly ever smelled so the novelty was refreshing. He lathered up his hands to scrub along his body where there was dirt built up, then rinsed and got out of the shower. He grabbed the towel that Galo had left him and dried himself, scrubbing the moisture out of his hair as best he could.

The clothes that Galo had left him were, admittedly, cute. Galo's shirt was, as expected, too big on Lio. It had blue and orange flames going up the sides and over the chest, where it said "PLAY WITH FIRE" in a scratchy font. A little on the nose, but Lio wasn't picky. He tied off the sweatpants so that they didn't slide down his hips, tied the hem of the shirt in a knot at his side, and used the damp towel to wrap his hair.

With the bathroom still full of steam and smelling of hair products, Lio felt content. Funny. Even when he was with Gueira and Meis, he usually only felt so at ease when he was either about to fall asleep or still waking up. There was too much riding on him constantly being on his toes, always checking over his shoulder, hyper-aware of everything that could go wrong and what to do if it happened.

And there was no reason for Lio to be relaxed, really. He was in the heart of Promepolis and he had no significant backup. But for some reason, this just felt nice. Domestic, almost.

Lio shook it off. He opened one of the drawers under Galo's sink and, after digging through ten brushes and combs, pulled out a hairpin. With that acquired, he tucked his outfit under one arm and left the bathroom. The steam spilled out like Lio had just turned on a fog machine and he watched with faint amusement.

"You done in there, Lio?" Galo called from the direction of the kitchen. Automatically, Lio drifted in that direction. "I was just heating up some leftovers for you to take with you. Sorry, if it wasn't for the short notice I probably could've cooked something better."

Standing in the entryway to the little kitchen, Lio leaned against the wall to watch. "It's fine," he said reflexively. "I'm not picky."

While he'd been in the shower, Galo had changed, too. He was wearing sleep pants and a shirt that was loose and faded. Lio was pretty sure that the shirt was just for his benefit — he couldn't imagine Galo _not_ sleeping shirtless.

When he looked over, Galo had to pause and do a double-take. He froze for a few seconds with his hand mid-motion, reaching for the microwave. Then he caught himself and cleared his throat, looking away pointedly. "Hope it's hot enough for you. I just put it in for three minutes and called it good." He pulled out a bowl of pasta and chicken that was steaming slightly.

Anything Lio might have been about to say to tease him (because there was no way that Lio looked better in pajamas than he did in his full leather get-up) was silenced as soon as the first whiff of food hit him. His stomach growled and Lio somehow found the self-control not to snatch it out of Galo's hands.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one who noticed the smells in the air.

"Wait." Galo pulled the bowl of food back as he frowned. He sniffed the air thoughtfully, brow furrowed, then stepped closer. Lio, focused on the bowl of pasta, waited impatiently for Galo to say whatever was on his mind. Then Galo suddenly shoved their faces together and took a big sniff near Lio's neck, lips nearly brushing his jaw.

Lio just about jumped out of his skin. "What the fuck?" He snapped reflexively, taking a step back. "Personal space, Galo." His face was burning, and so were his hands. Lio took a shaky breath to calm himself before his palms could light themselves on fire.

"Why do you smell like scotch?" Galo demanded, unphased. He didn't seem to care at all about how close they'd just been. "Hold on. Did you use my hair wax as shampoo?"

"I don't know, I just picked something at random," Lio said with annoyance. He couldn't understand why Galo was interrogating him about something so trivial while withholding the food. "Does it matter? You have so many hair products in there, I can't imagine that it makes a noticeable difference." He reached for the bowl of pasta, only for Galo to neatly sidestep him and hold it above Lio's head. That _bastard_.

"Doesn't make a difference?" He asked, incredulous, caught between being angry and being offended. Galo huffed. "Lio, hair wax is expensive! It's ten dollars for an ounce! Not to mention, the brands I buy are completely wrong for your hair type. You used it in the shower, too. It's supposed to be for styling. All you did was wash it out, you just wasted a whole bunch of it!"

Lio growled in frustration. "Then next time, you can leave your shampoo out somewhere that's _fucking easy to find_." He kicked Galo in the shin with the flat of his foot and, when Galo bent over, Lio snatched the bowl out of his hands and turned away. "Now get me a fork or I'm going to eat this with my bare hands."

Five minutes later, discussions of hair products had ceased and Lio was full. While Galo set the dishes in the sink to be dealt with later, Lio double-checked that he had his full outfit with him and got ready to leave.

"I'll just stay in the room across the hall," Lio assured him. "And I'll make the bed before I leave in the morning. No one will know that I was there."

Galo still seemed a little skeptical (maybe a little let down?) but he nodded. "Alright, well… Do you want to take anything else with you? Extra blankets or pillows? Or, uh—! Hold on, I can get you some scrap paper to burn," Galo assured him. "Hang on a minute. I'll get a brush for your hair, too."

"That's not…" He tried to protest, but Galo had darted off before Lio could get the words out. He wanted to be exasperated, though it was hard when Galo was so genuine about everything.

As much as Lio didn't want to leech on Galo's hospitality anymore, he was glad for the opportunity to burn something. Lio's promare was getting antsy.

When Galo came back, he had a brush and what looked like a bunch of old journals. "When I was orphaned, one thing that my caseworker suggested was keeping a diary," Galo explained. "She gave me a bunch of empty notebooks, but I never used any of them. Guess I didn't really see the point. So you can keep these if you want. Just burn it over the sink or something so nothing gets singed."

Really, he shouldn't have been so moved by paper, but Lio felt his chest squeeze with affection as he took the offerings. In exchange, Lio unwrapped the damp towel from his hair and handed it over. "Thank you. I'll just be across the hall, then." With everything tucked under one arm, Lio waved at Galo with one hand, gripping the hairpin between his pointer finger and thumb. "Goodbye, Galo," he said with a fond little smile.

"See you later, Lio," Galo replied, holding back a smile of his own. He shut his apartment door gently as Lio left.

Alone in the hall, Lio sent a glance at the window at the end of the hallway, where the fire escape was. There was no one watching him, no flashing lights in the distance, no noise that he could hear from the streets this high up. He was struck by how solitary it was. Lio was rarely alone anymore — especially lately. He let his posture sag as he sighed, cracking his neck wearily. A bed sounded nice right about now.

Setting his things down, Lio knelt to pick the lock on the door across from Galo's. As he expected, it didn't take long. The locks were cheap — government funding tended to produce subpar products. He flicked the hairpin aside and grabbed his stuff, walking inside and kicking the door shut behind him.

His boots were dropped next to the door, and Lio stared at the lock for what felt like a long time. He hesitated. If Freeze Force arrived, they wouldn't let a locked door stop them for even a moment. They'd probably just gun down the whole building. And if Galo needed something (or even just wanted to see him), it was better that the door was left unlocked. It wasn't doing anything to help Lio's paranoia, but he left the door without locking it and ventured deeper into the apartment.

Like Galo's place, it had a small living room and kitchen area, and two doors; one for the bathroom, one for the bedroom. Lio found the bedroom and dropped his outfit on top of the dusty dresser. The comb was set next to his clothes while Lio snatched up the journals and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Since he had three journals, Lio started strong. Holding it over the sink, he let his hand light up and let out an audible sigh as the paper was reduced to ash in seconds. Lio's promare was enthused, and it hurt to have to tamp it back down. He wasn't here to burn the whole building, although several going up in flames sounded just about _heavenly_. He tried the tap but, like Galo predicted, the plumbing wasn't on. Lio made a face. Whatever. He'd scrape the ash out of the basin in the morning.

The next journal, he took apart slowly. Lio tore off the cover and burnt it to tiny flakes that he sprinkled over the sink between his fingers. He wished, not for the first time, that his promare would give him some sort of insight beyond just _burn_. They'd seemed to respond to Galo's proximity, earlier that day. Or had Lio imagined that?

He burned another page while he thought, taking them one at a time. Deus had theorized that maybe the promare did what they did because they _liked_ Galo. Assuming that the promare had anything to do with this time travel nonsense at all, which they had no proof for. It sounded ridiculous to Lio. If they liked Galo so much, why wasn't _he_ Burnish? Why wouldn't they send Lio back in time, if they had that ability? Not to stroke his own ego, but Lio was pretty sure that, between the two of them, he was the more competent one.

Lio tore out another page and froze. Although the drawing was in crayon and faded, he'd recognize Kray Foresight's ridiculous hairstyle in a heartbeat. Apparently, when Galo said he hadn't used the journals, he'd forgotten a few things.

For a second, Lio faltered. It was a crude drawing of Kray, with sparkles around his face and the words _"MY HERO"_ written with so many exclamation points that they trailed off the page. Then Lio was just angry — he'd forgotten how to be anything else. He ripped the page out and crumpled it, ignoring his entire fist to singe it in one go.

There was another drawing beneath that one, though. Galo had drawn a woman. Lio didn't know her, but the blue hair she had told him everything that he needed to know. He made a pained noise and burned that one just as aggressively. The next drawing was of a quaint little house, crammed between identical ones with a happy little sun in the corner. _Ashes_. An angry fire that took the form of hands, reaching for a pitiful figure in the middle. _Charred_. A happy family embracing each other. _Up in flames._ The next page was filled with the word _'why'_ written more and more aggressively, scribbled out so hard that it'd torn the pages beneath it, too. _Burn burn burn._

It was only mildly surprising when the whole journal went up in Lio's hand. He just barely jerked forward in time for all of the ashes to land in the basin. He was panting, gripping the sides of the sink and staring into the mirror like a man possessed. Ashes and smoldering pieces of paper drifted down in front of Lio like snowfall. He took a breath to collect himself and it came out like a sob. _Fuck_.

Without bothering to open it, Lio burnt the last journal and left its remains with the others. Three charred carcasses. He retired to the bedroom after that, not that it mattered.

Lio didn't even attempt to sleep that night. He wasn't sure which was more restless — himself, or the flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how much research I did into men's hair products for that one joke. All of my targeted ads are for men's hair products now. Goddamnit.
> 
> Anyway, Lio is the make-up one in the relationship and Galo is the hair expert. Galo can't tell you the benefits of using setting powder vs setting spray, and Lio doesn't understand how a brush can be tailored for a certain hair type. Together, they somehow always manage to look fabulous anyway.


	9. I Don’t Believe a Word You Say But I Can’t Stop Listening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter title comes from "Where Did The Party Go" by Fall Out Boy. The song itself reminds me a lot of Galo and Lio, but this lyric I picked because I was having trouble finding something that vibed with me as being able to tie into Kray's involvement in this chapter. So, bam, it's a two for one.
> 
> Just thought I'd let you guys know that I updated the tags to include some more heavy subjects that I'm going to be writing. As for Burnish body horror/torture, that won't come up until around chapter sixteen. It's still a while off, so don't worry about that. I'd also like to make it clear that the tag "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" basically means, "I'm not fucking kidding." When I say this fic now includes torture, I mean that it's going to be detailed and prevalent. There's going to be other Burnish body horror moments in other chapters. You guys can skip those parts/chapters if you want, but I'm not going to dial it back. I enjoy writing that sort of thing and messing around with my Burnish physiology headcanons. So, if that's not your cup of tea... Well, you know where the back button is.

Lio didn't sleep, so he didn't wake up, either. But he had been dozing, sitting on the floor in the bedroom squished between the bed and the window. So when raised voices reached him, he stirred, glowering unhappily at the sunshine hitting him in the face. Ugh. Maybe sleeping in a cave wasn't so bad…

He picked himself up, stretched until his back cracked, and padded over to the dresser where he'd left Galo's hair brush the night before. Lio pulled his bangs out of the way and brushed the rest of his hair with long, harsh strokes. Normally, brushing his hair was like tangling with a rats' nest, but the brush that Galo had given him did short work of it. He shook his head to give it a more natural look, brushing out his bangs last.

All the while, the raised voices outside got louder. One of them was Galo's, and the other's was Lucia's, Lio was pretty sure. If he was wrong and it was Freeze Force, then these soldiers were doing such a shit job at sneaking up on him that Lio would be improving the quality of the organization overall by disposing of them.

When he decided that his hair was properly detangled, Lio stripped out of his borrowed pajamas and got his leather outfit back on. Undershirt, leggings, pants, jacket, all of his accessories… At this point, Lio could dress blindfolded. He did the straps and buttons methodically and with ease. To finish it off, he tugged on his black gloves and immediately felt more relaxed. More himself. Lio wore this outfit for a reason, after all: maybe it was a little silly, but it helped him feel confident.

With the pajamas and hairbrush tucked under one arm, Lio stalked over to the door. Not bothering to wait for a lull in the conversation, he yanked it open. "Could you keep it down?" He asked flatly. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

Lucia looked like she damn-near pissed herself, whirling away from her argument with Galo to jump about five feet back. Standing in the hall shirtless and wearing low-riding boxers, Galo was taken aback for a second, but he automatically caught the clothes and brush that Lio tossed his way.

"Holy _fuck_ ," Lucia hissed, clutching a hand over her heart and leaning against the wall to collect herself. "Warn a girl next time, Jesus fuck! You just about gave me a heart attack. Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?" She gestured with frustration between the two of them. "' _Hey Lucia, I've got the leader of a terrorist group staying at my place, just thought you should know.'_ How hard is it to send one lousy text?"

Lio stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending, then turned to Galo. "Thanks for the clothes," he said. Then, jerking his thumb toward Lucia, "What's this argument about?" He glanced sourly toward the window, where the sky was turning the color of sleet thanks to the early morning sun. "And why couldn't it wait until later?"

Galo looked like he was still processing that Lio was real and that the night before hadn't been something he dreamt or hallucinated. "Uh… Oh!" He snapped back into himself, shaking his head. "Lucia's upset that we went to Dr. Prometh's lab without her."

"And I have every right to be!" Lucia snapped, apparently having recovered. "What did I say as soon as we got back from that first meeting, Galo? I said, "if you go to that lab beneath the ice, you have to take me with you," and that wasn't meant to be a joke!"

"It was a spur of the moment trip!" Said in a tone that suggested Galo had tried this particular argument a dozen times already. "What was I supposed to do, get the Captain to swing back into Promepolis to get you? It's a risk for Lio to be in the city!"

"Yet here he is. Are my needs just not important to you, Galo?"

"Visiting an underground lab is _not_ a need!"

Lucia looked disgusted. "You're like a brother to me, so I'm going to pretend for the sake of our friendship that you did _not_ just say that to me."

"Should I say it again? Make sure it gets through this time?" Galo shot back, hands on his hips, leaning down to jam his forehead against Lucia's as if that was going to help him win this shouting match.

Lio muffled a long, suffering groan behind one hand. _Fuck_ , he really should have gotten some sleep. "If you two are going to keep this up for the rest of the day, then I need coffee." He stepped between them, shoving them both back easily, and stalked into Galo's apartment. The argument behind him didn't even falter.

Blurry eyed and exhausted, Lio nonetheless knew how to operate a coffee machine. It'd been so long since he had anything that wasn't instant _garbage_ , seeing that Galo had a coffee pot and several different types of grounds just about made Lio's mouth water.

At some point while the pot was filling with coffee, Lio watching impatiently, the argument in the hallway stopped. He heard Galo and Lucia enter the kitchen, but didn't think anything of it until Galo set his hands on Lio's shoulders from behind. Automatically, Lio tensed. He blamed his lack of sleep for why he didn't pull away or at least singe Galo's hands. How many times did Lio have to explain that sneaking up on someone who could manipulate fire was a _bad_ idea?

"Hey," Galo murmured, leaning in to speak into Lio's ear. Was he seriously not affected by this? Lio's face was _burning_ — all he could think about was how close Galo's face was, how he was just standing there shirtless, how _annoyingly domestic_ this whole situation was. "Are you okay? You look really tired. You slept, right?"

Galo's hands squeezed like he was thinking about massaging Lio's shoulders. Lucia snickered. The grip that Lio had on the countertop was going to crack it if he clenched any tighter.

The coffee machine beeped. Lio lurched away from Galo to grab it so abruptly that Galo took a reflex back to keep from staggering.

"I slept fine," Lio answered in a rush, the words bleeding together like a dam had been burst. "I just take a while to wake up. Caffeine will help." He huffed on a laugh, calming down somewhat. "At least, while I'm drinking it, it helps. It burns away even faster than alcohol does."

"Oh, really?" Galo looked fascinated by this new tidbit about Burnish, completely missing how flustered Lio was or the way that Lucia was struggling not to collapse behind him, she was laughing so hard. "Well, me and Lucia usually have coffee in the morning, but you can have the whole pot if you want. We'll just wait a little longer to get some at HQ. Right, Lucia?"

Coffee looked to be the last thing on Lucia's mind. She was doubled over, clutching her stomach. "I can't fucking _breathe_ ," she wheezed, and Galo took that to be confirmation.

"Great! Glad you're doing alright, Lio." The smile that Galo gave him made Lio feel the tiniest bit, _genuinely_ bad about lying to Galo about how much sleep he got. Thankfully, Galo missed the guilty clench of Lio's features. He had already turned toward his bedroom. "I'm gonna shower and get dressed. You two can help yourselves to whatever in the fridge, alright?"

Lucia hadn't even waited for him to finish before she was rifling through the fridge. "Way ahead of you, big guy!" She called back.

It was quiet between Lio and Lucia while Galo riffled through his clothes. He was considering finding something else to burn. Lio was fit to burst with anxious energy. He went through Galo's cabinets for his mugs as a distraction, but it didn't help much. Out in the Waste, Lio could explode if he wanted to. But that didn't satisfy the urge to burn as much as _actually_ burning. He thought of Foresight's useless pharmaceutical building going up in flames and the tips of his fingers sparked. _God_ , but that would be so satisfying. He made a mental note to stop by Fennel Volcano before he returned to the others. Lio could rage and burn as much as he wanted by the cone with very little risk.

He was brought back to himself by the sound of the bathroom door shutting and the shower turning on. As soon as that happened, Lucia snagged the coffee pot from Lio's hand and chugged it. Which she immediately regretted, coughing up coffee and setting the pot down with a clatter to fan her mouth.

"Oh, _oh shit_ , that's hot…" She hissed. "You were just standing there holding it and gazing off into space for five minutes! I thought it'd cooled off by now."

Lio held his hands up and let flames flicker over them as a demonstration. "Fireproof," he said flatly. At least Galo wasn't the only one who seemed to constantly forget the obvious.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Smartass." Lucia stuck her tongue out at him and reached for the cabinet where Galo kept his mugs on the first try. She grabbed one with the Burning Rescue logo on it and shoved a cat-themed mug into Lio's hands. "Just because your boyfriend is willing to settle for the cheap shit at work doesn't mean I am."

"He's _not_ my boyfriend," Lio interjected before she could finish. He wasn't flustered — just annoyed. "Galo is a friend. I've only known him for three days now."

Lucia hummed in a way that suggested she wasn't buying it. From Galo's fridge, she pulled a container of coffee creamer and proceeded to fill half of her mug with it. "Oh, yeah, Galo's a _really good_ friend. I always leave his apartment smelling like his hair products, and wearing his clothes, and those shoulder massages… Yeah, he does that to everyone. Even strangers on the street, _that's_ how good a "friend" Galo is," she drawled.

Alright, _now_ Lio was flustered. He sipped from his coffee mug and couldn't even appreciate the taste, looking away with a huff. "What's your point?" He asked at last. "So Galo is crushing on me. Don't we have more important things to worry about?"

"I think you're misunderstanding me." Lucia lowered her mug and Lio realized with a start that her toothy grin was gone. She _glared_ at Lio. "This isn't a friendly ribbing about how stupid and oblivious you two are. This is a threat."

"A _threat_?" Lio repeated, flabbergasted. Of course, he could kill Lucia easily if she wanted to take it there, but he didn't get the chance to remind her.

Lucia set her mug down on the counter with a clatter to get closer to Lio, practically chest-to-chest. "Look," she said quietly — unnecessary, really, since the shower was still going. "Maybe Galo didn't want to tell us all the details, but I'm not fucking _stupid_. Kray Fucksight is at the center of this and, whatever he did, he _really_ hurt Galo. The last thing that Galo needs is to get out of a toxic parasocial relationship and jump headfirst into another one. So I'm telling you _now_ that if you really care about him, you'll back off before he decides that you're his new hero to worship." Emphasized with a finger jammed into Lio's chest. "Because if you break his heart, well, I might not be able to control fire, but that doesn't mean I can't _break you_."

The thought of being _anyone's_ rebound — let alone a rebound for Foresight — made Lio's blood boil. And not just his blood, apparently. He had to set his coffee mug down because the coffee was beginning to simmer. "How dare you," Lio hissed back. "I'm _nothing_ like Foresight. I actually _give a shit_ about Galo. I'm not _using_ him."

How dare she. How fucking _dare_ she. Assume that she knew anything about Lio or his relationship with Galo. Foresight treated Galo like something rather unpleasant baking on the sidewalk. And Lio—

"You'd have to be an _idiot_ to not see what an amazing person Galo is," Lio bit out. "From his point of view, he's known me a week, but he's already ready to lay down anything to save my life. He's fearless and unwavering in his ideals. The kind of loyalty that he offers— It isn't blind adoration. It's the sort of loyalty that makes you want to _work_ for it, to be worthy of the way that he looks at you. To toss him aside like _garbage_ , the way that Foresight did—" He clenched his fists to smother to flames threatening to burst forth. Lio didn't finish, because what he wanted to say was, _'I ought to kill him for that alone.'_ But no, this wasn't justification for murder. He had _promised_ himself, goddammit.

Lio was snapped out of his thoughts when Lucia suddenly papped him on the cheek. Her grin had returned, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to be "threatening" Lio. "In that case," she said, "I think you'll end up being a great boyfriend."

There went his anger, too. Lio sighed, exasperated, and smoke trailed out of his mouth before he waved it away. "He's still _not_ my boyfriend. Just because I can recognize Galo's many admirable qualities doesn't mean that we're in love."

Lucia shrugged, sipping from her coffee innocently. "Whatever you guys tell yourselves."

"Hey, guys! Ready to go?" Galo's voice interrupted them before Lio could reply.

Galo was dressed in his full Burning Rescue uniform, which did a great job of hiding the way that his black shirt clung to his chest. After the conversation he'd had with Lucia, Lio didn't think that he would be able to handle it. Putting the finishing touches on his mohawk with one product-laden hand, Galo grabbed his keys with the other.

"Well, I'm ready, but Lio still has the rest of that coffee to get through," Lucia said.

Without missing a beat, Lio grabbed the coffee pot and upended it into the sink. He felt like he was going to suffocate if he didn't get some fresh air _immediately._ "Let's go."

* * *

Once outside, the first thing that Lio noticed was that Burning Rescue had one of its garage doors open. Instead of their enormous fire truck, though, the vehicle roaring and ready to go was a car. Ignis was waiting for them next to it — or, not so much them, as he was waiting for Galo.

"Any longer and I was gonna go up there and drag you down myself," Ignis said. "I've got food in the car, just hurry up and let's go. The last thing we want is to be late for a private audience with the governor."

And Lio immediately felt like an idiot. " _Shit_ ," he cursed under his breath. To Galo, he said, "I completely forgot that we needed to work out a cover story for you. What are you going to tell Kray when he interrogates you?"

"Work it out on the way there," Lucia interrupted. She reached into a pocket on her lab coat and pulled out two compact earpieces. "Here, catch." One was tossed at Galo, the other at Lio. "This way, we can listen in to your convo. Just brush your hair to the side or something to cover your ear. That thing's going to be pretty hard to miss if someone looks close enough."

Galo did as instructed, placing the bud into his ear and fussing with his hair. He made a face as he restyled it to the side. It was, admittedly, pretty endearing.

"Anything else?" Ignis asked impatiently, going over to the driver's side of the car.

"Just one thing." Taking hold of Galo's wrist, Lucia pressed another little speaker into his palm. "It's a bug," she explained. "And it's adhesive, so if you can, get close to his desk and stick this under the lip or something. Being able to listen in on his plans will do us _wonders_."

"I'll give it my best shot," Galo said, his smile tight. "Kray usually makes me stand in the middle of the room when I go to his office but, uh— I'll see what I can do."

There was an awkward lull. Lio was really beginning to wish that he'd burnt more than three lousy journals last night. Then Ignis sighed and came back over to them, clapping Galo on the shoulder. "You'll do fine," he muttered, leading Galo over to the car.

Perking back up, Galo nodded with enthusiasm. "Yeah, you're right. I've talked to Kray before. This'll be easy!" He waved at Lio before he got into the car. "See you when we get back!" He called, climbing in.

Ignis looked much less sure about the whole thing, but he offered a wave as he climbed into the driver's side. A few seconds later, the car's engine came to life, and Ignis pulled out of the garage and onto the street.

Staring after the car getting steadily smaller as it went down the street, Lio sighed. "What was it you were saying about toxic, parasocial relationships, again?"

Lucia made a face. "It's like watching someone with a celebrity crush. Disgusting." She sniffed in disdain. The earpiece that Lio was holding crackled to life in his hand and Lucia pointed to it with a faint smirk. "You gonna get that? Seems Galo can't go even ten seconds without you."

That was a good point, actually. Lio wondered if Galo's unwillingness to part was due to his crush or because he'd watched Lio die once before.

The earpiece had a pretty simple design. The speaker didn't have an off-switch, as far as Lio could tell, but there was a way to toggle between always on and push-to-talk. Lio settled on push-to-talk and attached it to his ear. "Lio speaking," he said, faintly amused with his hand cupping his ear to speak to Galo.

" _So, the story?"_ Galo's voice answered him, and Lio hated that he could tell Galo was grinning just by his tone.

"I think simple is better," Lio replied. He noticed Lucia entering Burning Rescue through the garage, so he followed her. "The story is that Mad Burnish used you as a hostage. Once we were out in the Waste, we made sure we weren't followed, then left you unconscious near no discernable landmarks. You woke up when your team found you. We said nothing of value. Got it?"

" _Easy enough to remember."_ The line fizzled with static, then Galo added, " _I gotta go, Lio. Captain wants radio silence until we get done with Kray, but I'll turn the earpiece back on when we arrive. Tell the others I said hi! See you when I'm finished."_

"See you," he echoed automatically. Lio sighed, lowering his hand from his ear. When he caught Lucia staring at him, Lio scowled. He hadn't noticed, but his lips had been creeping up into a smile for a moment there. "What is it?" He asked, harsher than necessary.

His tone didn't dissuade Lucia in the slightest. "Nothing, nothing." She gestured for Lio to calm down, then turned and kept walking. This part of the garage had a doorway that, Lio assumed, led into the main part of the Burning Rescue building. "C'mon. I think you've met everyone except Remi, right?"

"Yes. Are there only six of you on staff here?" Lio asked as he followed. It seemed like relatively few to him, but he wasn't a firefighter, so maybe he was wrong.

There was a split second where Lucia faltered. Lio wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't always on vigil. "There used to be more," she said mildly and didn't elaborate.

Well, the conversation was nice while it lasted.

As it turned out, the door that led out of the garage actually just led into an even bigger garage. Lio took a moment to be impressed by its sheer size. The main fire truck was there, of course, but so was Aina's jet, parked on a platform that could be raised up thirty stories at a moment's notice. Across from the garage was a section filled with lockers and clutter. A raised portion of the floor held a bed, a couch, a computer, and a doorway that looked like it led into a kitchen.

Lio wasn't nearly stupid enough to let his guard down in a firehouse, even if they claimed to be allies. He needed to explore the kitchen for other doors and exits. In case of a fight, the truck would make for good cover. Even if he had to break through the walls, Lio was willing to bet that he could be long-gone before any initial advantage of surprise could be properly utilized. While he analyzed, Lio's stride didn't break. No sense in letting potential threats know that he was already planning an escape route.

"We're here!" Lucia shouted to no one in particular.

She let out a grunt of effort as she vaulted up over the banister and landed on the bed, springing to her feet to swing neatly into the chair in front of the computer. Lio, with far fewer theatrics, took the stairs and settled for standing by the coffee table. There was an open edition of _Barely Legal_ on the tabletop. Lio made a face. Classy…

From the kitchen, Aina came out with a bag of chips in hand. She looked surprised to see Lio for a second, then asked, "Did Galo already leave? I wanted to ask him something." When Lio nodded, she shrugged. Aina popped a chip into her mouth and gestured at the couch. "You can take a seat if you want," she offered. "City Hall is a fifteen-minute drive from here, and it's going to take them longer to get up all of those floors and into Kray's office. So we have some time to kill before we get to the main event."

Generous though the offer was, Lio chose to remain standing. But he loosened his stance to give the appearance of relaxing when, in actuality, it was doing anything but. "What is the main event, exactly?" He asked. "I can talk to Galo, but what about the rest of you?"

"I can make the audio play through my computer," Lucia said distractedly. "It's not hard." She was hunched over the console, fingers flying over the keyboard and an assortment of other attachments that Lio couldn't imagine the purpose of. True, it had been a while since Lio last used a computer, but he was pretty sure that there was no practical purpose for it to have a joystick. Every now and then, Lucia's hands would leave the keyboard to pet the rat curled in her lap, or to pop a piece of candy into her mouth. "No, the _real_ challenge here is hacking into the Foundation's security cameras. Audio's all well and good, but I'd like to actually see what's going on. I've been trying to get in all night, but their firewalls are _good_." Lucia sounded envious, and more than a little annoyed. "At this point, I'll settle for just the camera in Forethot's office, but he's got some of the tightest security I've ever seen."

Aina hummed skeptically, leaning against the back of Lucia's chair. "Uh-huh… And how many government buildings have you hacked into?" She asked.

"What you don't know, you can't use to testify against me in court," Lucia shot back immediately. Her eyes didn't leave the screen. "Now, quiet. I'm trying to work."

While she was hard at work, someone that Lio didn't recognize exited the kitchen with a steaming coffee mug in hand. Lio (correctly) assumed that this was Remi.

When he saw Lio, Remi did a double-take. They eyed each other for a moment, then Remi relaxed. He reached forward and snagged the copy of _Barely Legal_ from the table. Coffee in one hand and porno magazine in the other, Remi took a seat on the couch and, without looking at Lio, said, "I thought you'd be taller."

Lio decided that Remi was in the running for his least favorite member of the Burning Rescue crew.

"I get that a lot," Lio said finally because there was no way to refute that without coming across as insecure (which he wasn't). "The comments about my height usually stop once I make it clear how easily I can kill someone."

Okay, so he wasn't insecure. But maybe Lio was a little _annoyed_. If you've heard one short joke, you've heard them all.

Remi looked soundly unimpressed as he flipped the page one-handed. "I can see why Galo likes you," he said evenly, and his smile said that he knew Lio was flustered without having to check.

That settled it: Remi was _definitely_ Lio's least favorite.

He was spared Aina's snickering when Varys decided to join them. With his skin still damp and smelling faintly of aftershave, Lio figured that Varys had taken a shower after a morning workout. Unlike the others, Varys had no reaction to seeing Lio. He waved and gave Aina a fistbump on his way past her as he hustled into the kitchen to find something to eat.

Lio gave Aina a bemused look and she shrugged. There was a sudden groan from Lucia.

"Another defeat!" She wailed, dropping her head onto the desk. "Ugh, I'm gonna need some candy that's a whole lot stronger than off-brand suckers. Vinny." Lucia prodded the rat in her lap, who sleepily moved to get up. "Hook me up with the good shit." With a nod, Vinny scurried off to do as told.

"Hey. What did your dentist say about your sugar intake?" Aina scolded. "Last time we dragged you to an appointment, you had five cavities."

Unimpressed, Lucia held out a hand. Vinny returned with a pouch of Skittles held in his mouth, scampering up Lucia's arm to rest on her shoulder. "I flossed last night. And I'll floss tonight if it's so important to you." She rolled her eyes, huffily beginning to struggle with the packaging. "Honestly. What's a girl gotta do around here to hack into a secure government network?"

" _You could try asking politely."_

The only one who didn't flinch was Lio. Lucia startled so badly that the pack of Skittles snapped open and exploded all over the floor, Aina just about fell over, Remi choked on his coffee, and Lio heard a thud from the kitchen that sounded like Varys hitting his head on the cabinet. He winced in sympathy.

"Deus," Lio greeted with forced neutrality. He came closer to the computer, where a familiar hologram was taking up the entire screen. Or, Lio supposed that he wasn't a hologram this time. Just an image. "Can you gain access to the cameras in City Hall? We need to see into Foresight's office," he explained.

 _"I'm aware,"_ Deus said. Not snippily, just like he was stating a fact. Which he was. _"I already have access. It seemed like you could use some help."_

By that point, Varys had left the kitchen. He didn't have any food with him, so Lio assumed that his appetite was shot. The feeling was mutual — Lio hadn't eaten since last night, but he felt no hunger. He was too anxious for it.

"What the fuck is this," Varys muttered. It wasn't a question. He was too stunned to form a question mark.

"Deus Prometh," Lucia said. Again, not a question. Her eyes were blown wide, sparking with barely contained glee as she grinned. "Oh, my God. It's such an honor. All of the things that the Foundation "invented" are yours, right? You're a genius! And your study of robotics is groundbreaking. Tell me about that robot you made, is it true that—?"

" _Maybe later."_ The interruption was curt. Lio couldn't tell if the offer was genuine or if Deus was just trying to get Lucia to shut up. " _We have more important things to be worrying about right now, don't we? I'll be in touch,"_ Deus told them. His hologram faded and, in its place, there was crisp security camera footage showing the outside of City Hall.

Lio was sort of impressed by the quality, then figured that he shouldn't be. Of course Kray would only want the best of the best.

"Well." Remi stood up with a grimace, coffee splattered on the front of his uniform and on the floor. "I guess that solves that problem."

"Good thing, too. I was worried for a minute there," Varys agreed with a flat tone.

Lucia shot them both dirty looks. "Hey, show some respect! That man is one of the brightest minds of his generation." All that got her was two shrugs.

Before Lucia could attack them for that, Aina scooped Vinny up and placed him on Lucia's head. "Oh, let it go," she sighed. "Let the boys get their coffee and their breakfast. We have to wait for the Captain's car to pull up, anyway."

While they bickered, Remi went to get paper towels, and Varys resumed getting his breakfast, Lio turned to his earpiece. He set a hand against it to toggle the speaker and said, "We've successfully managed to get visual access. We'll see and hear you every step of the way, Galo."

There wasn't an audible response, just a brief crackle of the speaker. Lio figured that it was Galo's way of saying " _understood"_ without saying anything. Despite himself, he smiled.

He was content to hang back and watch Burning Rescue go about their normal morning routines. Lio wasn't one for talking, most of the time, but he'd found that observing new groups was an ideal way to find out where you stood. And interestingly enough, the longer he watched them, the more relaxed he got.

Although a part of Lio was always braced for an attack, and probably always would be, it was hard not to feel at ease when none of them were acting shifty or on edge in the slightest. No one was eyeing him, body language was nothing but relaxed, and no matter how many times Lio glanced out the windows, he never saw anyone lingering or an ambush in preparation.

Living away from the city for so long, it was sort of fascinating to watch normal co-workers go about their normal routines. Aina and Lucia stopped bickering to chat idly about a band that they both liked, Remi had cleaned his mess and returned with a new mug of coffee and some paperwork, and Varys finished eating to practice free throws with a basketball hoop hung near the lockers.

At one point, Varys' ball bounced off the rim and bolted straight for the computer monitor. Lio reached up on impulse, jumping to close those last few inches and catch the ball. He tucked it against his chest to keep from dropping it, landing without stumbling. It all happened so fast that Aina and Lucia didn't even notice, their conversation continuing uninterrupted. But Remi had stopped passing between his paperwork and porn magazine to look at Lio with unguarded surprise.

Varys was taken aback too, but he recovered quickly, giving Lio an easy smile that reminded him far too much of Galo. "Hey, nice catch. Do you play?" He gestured at the basketball hoop.

Lio recognized an invitation when he saw one. He hesitated, glancing over at the computer monitor. But Ignis' car had yet to pull up, so… Why not, right? If he was going to make allies here, it paid to be friendly.

"I've never played," Lio admitted, "but I'm familiar with the rules. Do you want me to…?" He made a throwing gesture.

"Be my guest." Varys waved overdramatically toward the basket and took a step to the side. "You can come down here for a better angle, you know. It's easier from straight on."

That was probably true. Being perfectly to the side of the hoop made for an awkward angle, but Lio already had the ball poised to be thrown and he wasn't about to concede the point and make it easier on himself. He narrowed his eyes, taking the self-inflicted challenge for what it was.

"I think I can manage," said Lio mildly. He tossed the ball overhand and managed to contain his smirk when it flew neatly into the hoop with a satisfying _swish_. Considering that Lio could hit a bullseye from three-hundred meters, he'd be appalled with himself if he couldn't manage to sink a basket.

Varys whistled lowly, letting out a startled laugh. "Nothing but net! Nice shot." He went to collect the ball, spinning it on the tip of his finger as he walked back over. "Wanna come down here and try some more free throws?"

It wasn't as good as burning something, but physical activity always helped Lio calm down and work off a stressful situation. He opened his mouth to accept when the speaker in his ear crackled to life.

" _Thanks for driving, Captain. I'll call when I'm done,"_ Galo's voice said.

Lio whirled around to face the computer, shushing Aina and Lucia loudly as he approached. "Is that Ignis' car?" He asked, jamming his finger toward the screen. He knew for a fact that it was, though. Not only had Lio seen it that morning, but it was impossible to mistake the spiky blue mohawk that got out of it.

Luckily, dragging their attention back to the matter at hand was enough to make Lucia and Aina forget their annoyance with his interruption.

"Shit, you're right," Lucia cursed. "Switching Galo's speaker on. Lio, you're the only one he can hear, so if you have to give him instructions, make sure that they're good ones because I'm not above tackling you to the ground for that microphone."

One day, they were going to understand that Lio could control fire. One day. Then he wouldn't have to keep repeating himself.

For the time being, Lio settled for an eye roll as the five of them crowded around Lucia's monitor. The faint noise of wind that Lio could hear through his speaker was amplified as Lucia began to play it through the computer. She toggled through several different cameras, nondescript places of no interest to them, before settling on the foyer of City Hall right as Galo walked through the door.

Although he didn't know how office buildings worked, Lio's attention was piqued when a sharply-dressed woman with tightly-bound purple hair and a painted face approached Galo when he'd barely gotten two feet into the building.

" _Mr. Thymos,"_ she greeted Galo with a soft voice. Lio couldn't tell if she was just soft-spoken or if the microphone was that weak.

" _Ah, hi, Biar."_ Galo waved awkwardly. " _You can call me by my first name, you know. You've known me since I was thirteen."_

The comment went ignored. Biar didn't smile, but she didn't seem rude, either. Just someone doing her job. " _You have a private appointment with Governor Kray. He sent me down to personally collect you as soon as you arrived. He's been anxious to speak with you,"_ Biar said as she led Galo toward the elevators at the far side of the room. " _When he heard about what happened, he was overcome with worry. Seeing you alive and well in person will do a great deal to assuage the governor's concerns."_

Based on the face that Galo made once the elevator closed, he wasn't buying it. Neither was Lio, of course. He had to physically bite his tongue to keep from saying something snarky. Kray was so worried that he had to have a private, remote conversation with Galo from the comfort of his own office instead of going to see Galo personally. That rat… Lio was willing to bet that Kray had been hoping Galo would die at the hands of Mad Burnish. It'd make for quite the story, and free him of an annoyance.

No one at Burning Rescue spoke, although the elevator ride was long and quiet. The atmosphere was too tense for small talk and no one wanted to miss even a single syllable.

At the very top of City Hall, a building that must have easily spanned a hundred stories, Biar led Galo down several twisting hallways, Lucia flipping rapidly through the security feeds without comment. The way that Galo followed her, it was clear that he'd been down this way several times before. Biar's accompaniment was more than a little unnecessary. Lio wondered what the point of it was — a formality, maybe, or was Kray trying to send a message of some kind?

Finally, they reached a set of impressive double doors, stretching from floor to ceiling. " _No need to knock,"_ Biar said, stepping to the side. She gave Galo a thin smile, devoid of any emotion. " _Governor Kray is expecting you. Go right in."_

" _Uh, sure. Thanks."_ Galo nodded once and stepped toward the door.

He let out a soft, nearly inaudible noise when his hand came in contact with the handle. It was clearly a conscious effort to keep himself from hesitating, but Galo pushed open the door without physically reacting. It shut behind him with a deafening thud, finality not unlike a coffin being sealed.

The office was exactly what Lio expected: white walls, white floors, enormous windows to offer an unparalleled view of the city for miles. The sheer size of the room compared to the emptiness made Lio scoff. Its gaudiness was too great to put into words.

Although Kray had a white desk on the far side of the room, he wasn't sitting at it. Actually, he was staring out of one of the windows to the left of the door. When Galo entered, he looked up and smiled. " _Galo. Right on time. How have you been holding up since that unfortunate incident?"_

What a sanitized term to use when referring to a kidnapping. Galo took it in stride, keeping his face carefully blank as he walked closer to Kray. " _Fine,"_ he said, maybe a little too quickly. He corrected himself by adding, " _I mean, I'm a little sore, but it's nothing I can't sleep off. Guess that's what happens when you spend the day getting yanked around."_ Galo smiled and it looked tense.

Seeing how nervous he was, Lio touched a hand to his microphone. "Relax," he murmured to Galo, eyes glued on the screen. "You're doing great. Remember the story we talked about in the car." It did funny things to Lio's chest to see that the sound of his voice made Galo relax.

" _I'm glad to hear it."_ Kray turned to face Galo fully, his smile as polite as it would be for anyone else. " _I know these experiences can be traumatic, so I was giving you your distance before I asked you to come here because, well…"_ With an overly dramatic sigh, Kray walked back over to his desk. He set his good hand on the edge as if this conversation was emotionally taxing him. " _I don't believe that all Burnish are criminals, Galo, but the ones that choose to behave like animals are far too dangerous to be left running around. If a human snaps, they might kill someone. If a Burnish snaps, they might send an entire block up in flames. So I'm not asking this lightly of you, Galo, I want you to understand that. Given the threat that Mad Burnish poses…"_ He shifted to look at Galo again, but his eyes remained firmly shut. Impossible to read. " _I want to know if you can remember anything useful from the time you spent with them. Commands, codewords, plans, any potential hideout? Anything at all would be of great help to me, Galo. I want to keep Promepolis safe and, right now, Mad Burnish is the biggest threat standing in the way of that dream."_

A week ago, that speech probably would have left Galo starry-eyed and spilling out everything that Kray wanted to know. But now, Galo only looked unsure.

" _I…"_ Galo stared at his feet. It was easy to mistake his posture for guilt, but Lio could see his hands clenched behind his back and knew that more than likely, Galo was trying to keep from punching Kray. " _I'm sorry, Gov. I wish I could be more helpful to you, honest. But Mad Burnish just used me for a hostage. Once they were far enough away from the city, they dumped me and knocked me unconscious. I don't even know what direction they went in. I didn't wake up until my team found me."_

There was a pause. " _That's disappointing, Galo,"_ Kray said flatly, with none of his previous softness. Lio couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn that he saw Galo flinch. Next to him, Aina muttered something that was probably a curse and had to look away for a second. The feeling was mutual. " _You don't remember anything useful? Anything at all?"_ He paused. " _Not even a name?"_

Before he'd thought it through, Lio was reaching for his microphone. "Wait," he blurted out and saw Galo freeze.

Lio took a deep breath. He could practically hear Gueira and Meis telling him what a stupid idea this was, but Lio had made up his mind a month ago. He hadn't gone up onto the roof of Foresight Pharmaceuticals _just_ to get arrested. It had been about showing Foresight his face. More than that — his name. Giving Foresight something concrete to hate; something to _fear_. A person to attach to the Mad Burnish, and someone who wasn't above revenge.

Maybe that was petty, but Lio didn't give a shit.

"I want you to tell him my name. Tell him that the leader of the Mad Burnish is Lio Fotia," he said sharply.

He got nothing but weird looks from the Burning Rescue crew but, on screen, Galo barely even hesitated. " _I did overhear the leader's name,"_ Galo said. " _It's Lio. Lio Fotia."_ Exactly how Lio would have said it if he'd been there to spit in Foresight's face in-person. His chest filled with pride.

It was quiet while Kray considered that. Lio would have given just about anything to know what he was thinking. Finally, Kray said, " _And you're certain that's all?"_

Galo smiled apologetically. " _Sorry, Gov Kray. That's all I've got,"_ he said with a helpless shrug. His hand shifted toward his pocket and Lio held his breath. Lucia's bug — he'd nearly forgotten.

Moving toward Kray's desk, Galo hesitated only a moment before setting a comforting hand on Kray's shoulder. The other hand swept innocently under the lip of his desk, easily passed off as Galo leaning against it. His fingers came away spread, showing the cameras and anyone paying close enough attention that, whatever he'd been holding, it was now gone.

" _If I remember anything, I'll be sure to let you know, first thing,"_ Galo promised. He lowered his hand and took a step back, glad for the distance without wanting to show it.

" _Thank you, Galo. That would be appreciated."_ And that should have been the end of it. Kray should have dismissed Galo right then and there and gone on with the rest of his day. But then Kray stepped forward, arms spread. " _It warms my heart to see that you're alright."_

The hug was avoided with one giant step back. Galo looked genuinely alarmed, frozen with his hands held up in surrender. " _I, um…"_ He stuttered, then cleared his throat and tried again. " _I should go. The Captain's waiting for me and traffic is always worse on the way back. Sorry again that I couldn't be of more help, Gov."_

Kray lowered his arms back to his sides, unperturbed. " _You've been more helpful than you know, Galo,"_ he said. He nodded to the door; a dismissal if Lio had ever seen one. Galo looked like he was about to collapse, the relief to be leaving was so potent.

Every step to the door felt like it took twice as long as normal. Lio held his breath, waiting for the twist. Waiting for Kray to snatch Galo back and chain him, or for him to draw a pistol and put a bullet between Galo's lungs, or even for the windows at Burning Rescue HQ to be broken open as Freeze Force agents flooded the premises.

" _And, Galo?"_ Kray called when Galo finally had his hand on the door handle. Lio's vision was starting to go black at the edges, so he forced himself to take a stuttering breath. He was far from calm, though.

Without looking, Galo replied, " _Something else, Gov?"_

" _Send in Biar on your way out. That's all."_

Galo nodded instead of giving a verbal answer. He opened the door, and…

Nothing happened. Galo left the room and shut the door behind him as gently as possible. He murmured, almost fervently, " _Kray's never once wanted to hug me…"_ On screen, Kray's polite smile fell.

The sudden clamor from Burning Rescue was loud enough that Lio missed Galo's short exchange with Biar, who was still waiting in the hall outside of the office. Lucia batted everyone's wandering hands away from her tech and, with the flip of a few switches, her bug was activated and everyone was dead silent again as they listened closely.

" _You needed something, Governor?"_ Biar asked, standing rigidly in front of Kray's desk. The sound on Lucia's bug was much crisper than that of the earpiece.

Kray scoffed, muttering something that the microphone didn't catch. He ran a hand through his hair and turned to Biar with a scowl. " _That brat… Biar, let my security detail know. From now until I give the order otherwise, I want eyes on Galo Thymos at all times."_

Biar took the order without reacting. " _You suspect him of lying to you?"_ She asked even as she, presumably, punched in the order to the tablet in her arms.

" _Oh, I'm certain that he was lying to me,"_ Kray said off-handedly.

Lio's thoughts went immediately to that hug, how Galo's reaction hadn't been of disgust but of genuine surprise. He hissed, looking away and clenching his fists. That had been a test! Of course it was. Lio felt like an idiot. He should have told Galo to soldier through the discomfort and return it.

" _He knows something about Mad Burnish. Something that he's not telling me. If they've managed to sway that idiot's loyalty…"_ Kray cupped his chin thoughtfully. " _Well, Galo's allegiance is of no consequence to me. He doesn't have the power to interfere with the launch and there's no way that he could know about it. More to the point, though, this Lio Fotia worries me. From what I've seen and the reports we've gotten from Vulcan and his men, Mad Burnish's new leader is a force to be reckoned with. Not to mention, a potentially invaluable source of power. We're running thin as it is. I want Lio Fotia located and secured as soon as possible. And if Galo can lead us to him, then I can spare a few men to keep an eye on him."_

" _Understood."_ Biar lowered her tablet and nodded respectfully. " _If Galo Thymos comes in contact with any Burnish, you'll be the first to hear about it."_

It was through sheer force of will that Lio didn't set the computer on fire. "I can't watch any more of that," he said, voice clipped as he turned away. The screen was turned off, not that it helped Lio calm down at all.

Lio took a deep breath and, when he let it out, it was smoke. He reached up to touch his earpiece and only grew more frustrated when he realized that it was broken. Overheated, apparently. Great. Lio tapped the microphone and all he got for his trouble was a high-pitched whir and a mild electric shock before it whined and shut down. He yanked the earpiece out with a scowl.

"Shit," he muttered, looking over at the others, who stared back at him with varying degrees of alarm. Lio knew that hearing their beloved governor talk shit about their co-worker and then calmly discuss using Lio as fuel had to be jarring, but if they were any slower, he was going to end up blowing a gasket. "Do you have anything that I can burn?" Lio asked, voice tight with effort. ' _Don't blow up don't blow up don't blow up don't blow up.'_

His question at least got a reaction from Aina. "Oh! Here, take this."

She bounded over to the coffee table and, grabbing Remi's porn magazine, thrust it into Lio's hands. It went up in flames immediately and Aina yanked her hand back with a startled gasp. Lio let out a shaky sigh as it crumbled to ash between his fingers. Remi made a distressed noise in the back of his throat.

"Feel any better?" Lucia asked him with a surprising amount of gentleness.

There was a flash of embarrassment that Lio ignored. He glanced over at her through the corner of his eye and shook his head. "No. Do you have a broom?" Or something else to burn would be nicer.

Varys went to fetch a broom from the kitchen and Lio glared at the pile of ashes at his feet. It wasn't all bad. Kray didn't know just how much of his plans were already available to them. And he might know Lio's name, but he didn't know his face. They still had the upper hand, even if Kray monitoring Galo was going to be inconvenient at best.

None of that was why Lio was upset, though. He'd fully anticipated Kray to make a move similar to that. No, he knew why he was angry. The way that Kray talked about Galo and manipulated him, the carefree way that he spoke of using the Burnish, discussing the whole thing as if it was a move on a chessboard and nothing more…

Lio did not kill, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to.

He took the broom when Varys offered it to him with a muttered thanks. It was quiet while Lio cleaned up his mess, dumping the ash into a little trash can near Lucia's computer.

"Well," Aina said finally, breaking the silence, "this isn't the best outcome we could've gotten, huh?"

Remi shot her a dry look. "You don't say?"

Aina rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know what I mean. Before Galo left, I was going to ask him to come to lunch with me and Heris. I got her to agree to meet with me tomorrow. But now I'm going to have to find someone else to be my date." She made a face. "It'll be too suspicious if Galo's seen with Heris the day after his meeting with Kray."

The first thought Lio had was agreeing with her; yes, that would be far too suspicious for someone as paranoid as Kray to overlook. His second thought was, ' _date'_?

"Why do you need a date?" Lio asked, his voice as casual as he could make it. The last thing he needed was for another round of teasing to start up. He could handle it from Meis and Gueira, but these people were strangers and Lio was already _fuming_. He didn't need to push it.

"Oh, well…" Aina gestured flippantly with one hand. "Heris is my older sister, sure, but she's been mothering me since I could toddle. She'd never agree to come to lunch unless it was to meet my boyfriend." An annoyed huff. "God knows she never has before… Anyway. I figured I could just rope Galo into doing it since he's pretended to be my boyfriend before. Sometimes guys hit on me when we go out as a group, so I just find it easier to put Galo's arm around my shoulder and kiss him on the cheek instead of dealing with guys who can't take a hint. And he's never minded, so…" Aina shrugged. "I guess it's not a big deal. I can tell Heris that my mysterious boyfriend had something come up, but I don't want to interrogate her alone."

Lio didn't hesitate. "I'll do it," he said. "I'd like to meet the lead researcher on Kray's team." It would be a neat little exercise in self-control.

"That sounds like a really bad idea," Varys said as he took the broom back. Not only had Lio's grip on it bent the broom at an odd angle, but the heat had been enough to warp the plastic. Lio winced. _Self-control_. Right.

"I mean…" Aina looked Lio up and down, scrutinizing him. "I could pretend to be into you," she decided at last. "We can't just pluck a guy off the street for something like this and, no offense," a nod toward Varys and Remi, "but you two and the Captain are definitely out."

Varys looked like he didn't care at all. Remi stuck his tongue out childishly and Aina returned the gesture.

"This gives me an excuse to finish and test out a prototype, anyway," Lucia said eagerly as she whirled around in her seat. "It'll keep your body temperature from showing up as too hot on thermal cameras. Wearing it out in public should give you added incentive to cool those jets, hotshot." She gave Lio a pointed look and he rolled his eyes. _Please_. He wasn't even steaming yet.

"Then it's settled." Aina walked over to Lio and held her hand up for a fistbump. "You and me. Lunch tomorrow afternoon, then? I'll pick you up here at noon." She gave him what could have been a flirtatious wink if she wasn't trying so hard not to burst into laughter.

Despite his anger, Lio found himself smiling somewhat genuinely. He returned the fistbump good-naturedly. "It's a date," he agreed. As pissed as he was with Heris, too, tomorrow was at least a plan. Something for him to look forward to. And use to calm himself.

Speaking of…

"I should go before Galo arrives. I don't want to be seen with him too soon," Lio said. His stomach clenched with guilt. The microphone had broken, so he hadn't been able to catch up with Galo about what just happened. It would have to wait for later. Lio would apologize the next time they were face-to-face. "I need to go into the desert and burn something big before I explode. But, before I go…" He gave a sheepish smile. "Does anyone have a candle that I can use? And a pen and paper?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to the lyrics for _Inferno_ , Galo drinks coffee. So there's my source for that.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have a Tumblr **[HERE](https://karkalicious769.tumblr.com/)** featuring some other links if you guys want to support my writing! As well as [this spicy post](https://karkalicious769.tumblr.com/post/642605219137699840/hey-for-those-who-read-my-fanfiction-my) for those who might be interested in getting a chapter early.


End file.
